Ireland Grand Slam dream alive after bruising win in Scotland

Ireland took another step towards the Grand Slam with an incredibly hard-fought and costly victory over Scotland.

A 15-point win at Murrayfield sets up a mouthwatering St Patrick's weekend clash against England in Dublin on Saturday.

Victory over an English outfit, humiliated by France in Twickenham on Saturday, would earn Ireland just a fourth ever Grand Slam and with that the title also.

All of Ireland's four Six Nations championship victories have been crowned on the road but now Dublin will have a chance to celebrate in style should they get the job done against Steve Borthwick's visitors.

Andy Farrell's side earned their shot at glory overcoming the early loss of a number of starters but were still able to restrict the hosts to a single score and tries from Mack Hansen, James Lowe and Jack Conan killed off Scottish Triple Crown and championship hopes.

However they will have to deal with a lengthy injury list after losing Caelan Doris, Dan Sheehan, Iain Henderson, Ronan Kelleher and Garry Ringrose, who required medical attention lasting over five minutes on the field after a sickening collision, during the course of a tense Test in the Scottish capital, where Ireland extended their run over their opponents to eight games.

Ireland were able to welcome back Johnny Sexton, Ringrose and Tadhg Furlong to their starting team, while Jamison Gibson-Park and Robbie Henshaw assisted off the bench, the latter three making their first appearances of the tournament.

The tension was dripping down from the stands ahead of kick-off after another stirring rendition of Flower of Scotland but Ireland soon went to work to silence the crowd.

The visitors dominated the early possession and camped in the Scottish half. They were perhaps unlucky