Scotland v Ireland: Hugo Keenan’s grace under pressure crucial to curbing hosts’ momentum

Even Homer nods. Hugo Keenan fumbled a high ball after 30-seconds of Ireland’s Six Nations Championship victory over Scotland. He didn’t drop it, just juggled for a split second, regathered and set off on another odyssey that would take him to the four corners of the Murrayfield turf and all points in-between.

As a notation it is prosaic but worth scribbling down the date and time because it represented a rare moment in which the 26-year-old was not ensconced in some form of derring-do. He showed a fleeting human side, a nanosecond of uncertainty at odds with the consistent excellence of his performances.

Nine matches, starting with three Test series wins in New Zealand until a Sunday afternoon in Edinburgh, and it’s hard to recall a mistake of note. This wasn’t one either, but it did invoke a sharp intake of breath from Irish supporters, fretful and desperate for their team to settle smoothly into their playing rhythm; the brief, haranguing cries of their Scottish counterparts died in their throats.

Keenan’s implacable excellence is commonplace to a point where anything less inspires a double-take and a wry smile. His quality is never taken for granted, not by his team-mates, especially not at Murrayfield on this Sunday afternoon when they had reason to be hugely grateful, both to his vigilance in defence and his vision, passing and kicking in attack.

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Ireland’s travails in the first half included losing three of their starting pack to injury, a legacy of which gave the appearance of them being a hair’s breadth off in their traditional attacking fluency, but defensively matters were even more concerning.

The visitors were lateral and passive for the most part and Scotland profited from that hesitancy as Ireland stood off, the home side able to win collisions, find space in the wider channels and ultimately work Huw Jones under the posts for a neatly taken try on 16 minutes. Call it a lesson, call it a warning, it went unheeded for the most part.

Keenan stepped into the breach, so to speak, twice, at a time when the Scots were very much ascendant and threatening to turn pressure into a more tangible reward on the scoreboard. On 31 minutes Keenan’s textbook tackle on Duhan van der Merwe six metres from the Irish line was a thing of beauty, taking the legs from a player who had caused Ireland huge problems until that point.

The South African-born wing had generally required more than one green-shirted wrangler to bring him to ground; it made Keenan’s effort even more laudable in context and outcome. James Lowe got over the ball and Ireland won a penalty turnover at the ensuing ruck. It was a pivotal few seconds at a time when the home team and their supporters were in full voice.

Keenan’s second intervention was on the stroke of half-time, this time denying Scotland centurion and fullback Stuart Hogg, the timing and technique once again exemplary.

Arguing the potential upshot of those two moments is a moot point but suffice to say that Ireland would have faced a very different Scottish side if Gregor Townend’s charges had managed to take one, or both of those chances.

The Irish fullback’s speed and athleticism, assisted for the most part by Conor Murray, denied Scotland outhalf Finn Russell access to Ireland’s backfield with his kicking game. Russell looked but generally found Keenan in situ, whether it was a high ball, grubber kick or long punted clearance, the latter generally returned with hefty interest in meterage.

Keenan’s impact in that first half wasn’t limited to defence. It was his brilliant, bullet-like pass that gave man-of-the-match Mack Hansen just enough space to squeeze over in the corner; it was a brilliant finish, but the delivery was first class.

There were other touches, an offload sending Rónan Kelleher scooting through a gap, a brilliant kick down the touchline following a turnover augmented by the speed of the chase that forced the home side to concede a five-metre lineout.

This was all accomplished at a time when Ireland were struggling to find their playing equilibrium amid the constant disruption of injury that forced head coach Andy Farrell into one rejig after another.

Ireland lost a second hooker, Kelleher, to injury; Cian Healy reprised a brief period in his school days when he wore the number two jersey and the visitors then lost Garry Ringrose to a horrible bang on the head following a mistimed tackle. Despite all these setbacks Ireland found their rhythm, worked harder and smarter.

Keenan epitomised those virtues. His clear-out at a ruck when James Ryan carried close to the Scottish line ensured that Ireland retained possession, the fullback then chased down and collared van der Merwe, trapping him, an important part of the preamble to Lowe’s try following Hansen’s picture postcard pass.

Keenan retains that capacity to ignore an odd loose moment – and, like the fumble, they are rare indeed – to instead redouble his efforts. A misplaced kick to Russell was almost immediately followed by a coltish gallop down the wing, perfectly judged grubber kick through, and a regather on the fly.

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He hustles relentlessly on behalf of the team. It’s a pity it didn’t culminate in a try, which would have been a third straight in the tournament but that’s a mere cavil. The injury profile is a concern in advance of next Saturday but as this campaign has emphatically proved, those asked to step up, or step in have done so with aplomb. There is no reason to doubt now.