Ireland breezed into the last eight of the 2023 rugby union World Cup as winners of Group B after a 36-14 victory over Scotland at the Stade de France on Saturday night.
Scotland boss Gregor Townsend said on the eve of the clash that the game - which could have allowed Scotland to progress - was the moment for his team to deliver.
They failed abjectly. They were behind within two minutes. James Lowe went over on the left wing and Hugo Keenan doubled the score after 25 minutes to compound Scotland's misery.
They had responded purposefully to Lowe's opener but despite camping in the Irish 22-metre line, they could not force a score.
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell described the response to the pressure as clinical. "When you've been defending, it's a real shot in the arm for ourselves but a real hammer blow to a team that has been attacking really well."
Difference
If the first two Irish tries owed their genesis to skilful hands and fluid running, the third was about brute force. Iain Henderson applied the final touch to a succession of shoves from the men in the pack.
Keenan bagged his brace to take Ireland to 24-0 and a bonus point for a fourth try and Ireland skipper Johnny Sexton converted the try to give Ireland a 26-0 cushion at the pause.
"I thought Ireland started really well," said Townsend. "It was a proper Test match in terms of both teams having opportunities for 20 minutes and then they took theirs.
"They are the best in the world for a reason. Probably the thing that stands out from an attacking perspective is when you give them entries deep into your territory, they are very good at coming away with points. And they showed that again tonight."
Scotland returned from the break fired up. But rather than the first score, they received the first yellow card of the match. Ollie Smith was sent to the sin bin for a poor tackle on Sexton.
Profit
While he was away, Dan Sheehan went over and at 31-0 up, Farrell decided to remove Sexton from further possible harm and replace him with Jack Crowley
Sexton's departure added a spring to the Scottish step but Crowley showed his worth. His deft cross-field kick was collected by Garry Ringrose who went over.
Two Scotland tries profited from a lapse of application but Ireland put down the rebellion to continue their campaign against New Zealand - a team they beat in a three-Test series last year to become the world's top ranked team.
"New Zealand have already talked about revenge," said Sexton.
Desire
"It's one that they want. And when they're hurting and they want to prove something, that's the biggest challenge in rugby: to try and beat New Zealand when they're in that frame of mind."
Farrell said his side should relish the opportunity to take on New Zealand next Saturday at the Stade de France.
"I'm sure once we recover properly there'll be a spring in our step because if you can't get excited about what's coming, then there's something wrong.
"This is proper living now. This is exactly where you want to be. And these boys have been waiting for opportunities, big games to show what they've learned for for a while now.
"And it doesn't get any bigger than next week."
