Ireland beat Scotland 17-13 to retain their Six Nations title and overturn their defeat at the last World Cup. Fueled by the prospect of a double last time out in 2017, England, the only team they have beaten this year, a Clover XV celebrated St Patrick's Day a day early, fueled by incredible energy from forwards and spans.

The Irish put their house in order a week after a 23-22 defeat at Twickenham, which would have derailed the beautiful system set up by Andy Farrell, by preventing a historic double Grand Slam at the VI Nations. Five months after their World Cup quarter-final exit against the New Zealand All Blacks, the coach was able to reshuffle his troops for a second time with a slightly rebuilt squad.

Surrounded by ball-scratcher Joe McCarthy, bulldozer Aki, scrum-half Jamieson Gibson Parke, talented winger Calvin Nash and other stalwarts, Peter O'Mahony took up the torch left by iconic and historic captain Johnny Sexton. James Lowe, or even scorer hooker Dan Sheehan.

A heroic Scottish defense

Saturday, the final fightScotland delivered on all its promise, a tight situation (7-6 at half-time), tense and hanging on until the end. The visitors tried to slow down the Irish surge as much as possible and they did so with impressive defence, alertness and defence. However, his only mistake before the break was fatal: a long touch recovered by Dan Sheehan at the end of the lineout, left alone for his fifth try in five games (13th, 5-0).

As in this Nash attack, which was dismissed by Andy Christie (53rd), the Chardon XV then relentlessly contained the green waves, but was blown away by successive blows. Battered, the defense fumbled. Hooker Evan Ashman left his partners at fourteen and the Irish played a penalty with their hands, the pillar Andrew Porter flattened, before Jack Crowley converted (65, 17-6).

The scene repeated itself, but on the other side: Harry Byrne received a yellow card (76th), and Scotland took advantage to go back to 17-13. The scoreboard didn't budge in the final seconds, breathless, and Dublin erupted in joy at the final whistle. Scotland, who finished third last year, finished the 2024 tournament one below, on the same points as Italy in fifth. Finn Russell's men performed well in this edition, particularly against England (30-21), but they ended the campaign with the regret of a 20-16 defeat against France, controversially denied a try in the final seconds.