The China Mail - Easterby proud of Prendergast as Six Nations champions Ireland overwhelm Scotland

The 21-year-old fly-half had been shaky in open play and unreliable with his goal-kicking when Ireland launched their bid for an unprecedented third successive Six Nations title with a 27-22 defeat of England in Dublin.

But, a week on, Easterby's faith in Prendergast was vindicated by a man-of-the-match display at Murrayfield where the Leinster stand-off was assured in attack and on target with five of his six goal-kicks.

"He was good, wasn't he?," said Easterby after Ireland's 11th straight victory over Scotland left them as the only team in this Six Nations with a shot at a Grand Slam.

"Playing in a different game away from home, he delivered not only in terms of mixing his game, attacking the line, his kicking game, but also off the tee...He was good across his game, both in attack and defence."

Ireland's pack dominated early on, paving the way for tries by wing Calvin Nash and captain Caelan Doris as the visitors surged into a 17-0 lead.

Scotland's cause was harmed when record try-scorer Duhan van der Merwe was shown a 14th minute yellow card and they lost two more key backs when skipper Finn Russell and wing Darcy Graham clashed heads trying to tackle Ireland's Jamison Gibson-Park.

They rallied either of side of half-time thanks to a Van der Merwe try and two penalties from Blair Kinghorn, with Scotland cutting the deficit to six points.

- 'Standards' -

But Ireland stopped the fightback thanks to tries by wing James Lowe and replacement Jack Conan and they will now be overwhelming favourites to win their third-round clash with struggling Wales in Cardiff on February 22.

"We set out at the beginning of this championship to keep getting better, keep challenging each other in terms of the standards, and I think we've seen some of that today," said Easterby, deputising while Ireland coach Andy Farrell is seconded to the British and Irish Lions' tour of Australia.

Former Ireland back-row Easterby, 49, added: "There is an opportunity (of a Grand Slam). We've got to make sure that we prepare in the right way for Wales and go there with the same mindset that we came here with."

Graham was taken to hospital, with Scotland coach Gregor Townsend telling reporters: "We are still waiting for scans.

"I believe there are no issues around his neck, but it's more just seeing where the concussion has come from. I'm just hoping there are no broken bones around the face or skull area."

Fly-half Russell, however, walked off the pitch unaided and Townsend was optimistic his key playmaker would be fit to face England at Twickenham in a fortnight.

"There's no game for Finn next week anyway," said Townsend. "We're hoping he'll make a full recovery in time for it."

Townsend, reflecting on Saturday's match, added: "When you're 17-0 down, when things haven't gone well for you and you've had to make changes, you do fear that the opposition could build on that.

"But I was really proud of the way we came back at the end of the first half...Once they score another try, it's very tough to get ahead again."

Y.Su--ThChM