Ireland 36-14 Scotland: Irish book Rugby World Cup quarter-final vs New Zealand after demolition of Scots

Dan Sheehan scored one of six Ireland tries as they blew Scotland away in Paris

Ireland laid down a marker of their quality to the rest of the Rugby World Cup at the Stade de France, as a sensational performance brought a 36-14 victory over Scotland to top Pool B's group of death.

Six tries through wing James Lowe, full-back Hugo Keenan (two), second row Iain Henderson, hooker Dan Sheehan and centre Garry Ringrose mean Ireland will face New Zealand in the quarter-finals in Paris next Saturday, looking to book a semi-final place for the first time in the nation's history.

Andy Farrell's side were also forced to play the entirety of the second half with no wingers on the pitch, as first-half knocks to Mack Hansen and James Lowe saw Ringrose and scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park shift to the flanks - injuries the Irish coaching staff will dearly hope are not serious.

Scotland, who came into the World Cup ranked fifth in the world, exit at the pool stage after scoring twice through replacement hooker Ewan Ashman and scrum-half Ali Price in the final quarter, having had Ollie Smith sin-binned on a night when they were thoroughly second best.

• All Blacks ease into World Cup quarters with Uruguay hammering
• Dominant France cruise into quarter-finals after thrashing Italy
• Lucky England edge out Samoa in World Cup after late Danny Care try

In-form Garry Ringrose and Johnny Sexton will now look to guide to a first ever World Cup semi-final

Just seconds past the opening minute, Lowe was in for the first try of the contest, with much of the score to do with the outstanding work of Ringrose, whose dummy, break and pass onto Hansen left the latter needing only to pass on for Lowe to score in the corner.

James Lowe scored the opening try of the Test just 64 seconds in

Ireland skipper Johnny Sexton missed a tricky conversion, and despite Ireland's ideal start, they wouldn't see play in the Scotland half for the next 15 minutes or so.

Finn Russell and co turned down a shot for the posts from 45 metres out after a Caelan Doris high tackle, favouring an early attacking chance in the 22, but superb Irish defence snuffed out strong Sione Tuipulotu and Duhan van der Merwe carries, before No 8 Doris got over the ball to win a breakdown penalty.

Doris knocked on across the ground as they looked to build an attack from their own half, with Scotland then following that up by winning a scrum penalty and kicking into the corner again, turning down the chance of three points once more.

Ireland flanker Peter O'Mahony - on the occasion of his 100th cap - produced a key lineout steal under pressure, only for Gibson-Park to just slid into touch as he looked to recover the ball.

Peter O'Mahony and co produced several defensive turnovers as Scotland came back at Ireland early into the contest

Scotland continued to look dangerous, with another penalty awarded against Ireland out wide at the breakdown. Into the corner the ball went again, but after a madcap passage of play, filled with loose balls, spillages and huge collisions, Ireland's terrific defence forced Scotland back to the 22 and into a knock-on. A scrum penalty for the Irish pack then completed the exit.

With Ireland finally back into the Scotland half, Tadhg Beirne knocked on in the next passage off a Doris inside ball, with Hansen going close to stepping through the Scotland defensive line just prior after nice, fluid build-up play.

A moment of controversy followed when touch judge Jordan Way missed Keenan putting a foot in touch by the Irish 22 while claiming a Smith aerial kick - an error which was made all the more frustrating for Scotland when Lowe sent a kick back to touch with interest on it.

Beirne then turned over breakdown ball in trademark fashion, with O'Mahony breaking through and offloading for Hansen seemingly to score, only for the wing to spill with the try-line at his mercy - albeit an Irish try from that period of play would have been rough justice on the Scots.

Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie departed in the first half with a shoulder injury

Scotland skipper Jamie Ritchie soon limped off with a shoulder injury, while Hansen also departed for a HIA. A Darcy Graham knock-on under a high Gibson-Park box-kick handed Ireland an opportunity, but, on this occasion, the mistake wasn't punished as Scotland produced a turnover.

O'Mahony quelled Scotland's next attack with another lineout steal, and lifted by their periods of staunch defence, Ireland kicked on and notched a second try through Keenan in the 26th minute. And what a magnificent try it was.

Replacement centre Stuart McCloskey - on for Hansen - fed Sexton out the back, with the Irish skipper then sending Bundee Aki through a gap. Aki offloaded impeccably to Ringrose on a wraparound run, with one more offload seeing Keenan slide over in the corner.

Full-back Hugo Keenan slid in for Ireland's second try, after a fabulous move through the backline

An Andrew Porter breakdown penalty saw Ireland back in the Scotland third of the pitch before long, and just past the half-hour, Henderson dummied and reached to score as Ireland battered their way up to and over the try-line.

Second row Iain Henderson stretched to score Ireland's third try on 32 minutes

A Scottish neck-roll at the breakdown granted Ireland further 22 access, and after a wealth of pressure, Keenan scored his second after wonderfully collecting a looping Sexton pass over his head and diving over through contact just before the break.

A needless Smith trip on Sexton after the whistle saw Scotland make a disastrous start to the second half too, igniting an almighty flare up between both sets of players which resulted in a costly sin-binning for Gregor Townsend's side - Smith for the original action - and soon, the concession of a fifth try.

Indeed, Scotland were lucky not to be reduced to 13 players, as prop Pierre Schoeman flipped Ireland's Sheehan over the advertising hoardings in an incident more suited to WWE wrestling or judo than rugby union. TMO Brett Cronan, somewhat absurdly, reported back there was nothing worthy of further sanction.

Using that as fuel for further scores, Ireland's Sheehan finished in the corner after excellent play by utility wing Gibson-Park tracking across the pitch at pace, as Scotland struggled to live with Ireland's lightning attack.

Sheehan scored Ireland's fifth try early in the second half

A sumptuous Jack Crowley kick-pass secured a sixth Irish try through Ringrose just before the hour mark, but Scotland were next to score as Ashman showed good pace down the wing to get over, and a minute later they had a second try through Price after a thrilling attack from deep led by the running of Huw Jones.

Ireland thought they had a seventh try in the final minute through replacement tighthead Finlay Bealham to take them past 40 points, but play was brought back for an earlier Dave Kilcoyne knock-on, completing the scoring.

It left elated Irish fans totalling a speculated 60,000 of the 80,000 capacity to serenade their side again with Zombie by the Cranberries - now unequivocally an Ireland rugby anthem - before further fervent renditions of Wild Rover and Dirty Old Town in an extraordinary atmosphere.

Sexton: The draw is a bit unfair, but we have to be ready for New Zealand

Ireland skipper Sexton told ITV Sport...

"I thought it wouldn't get any better after South Africa but the fans proved me wrong once again.

"We are delighted to win the pool and we know this is where we want to be now in the quarter-finals against the toughest opposition we can get.

"The way the draw was done three years ago, it turned out a bit unfair, but now it is the hand that we were dealt and we have to be ready for New Zealand next week."

Peter O'Mahony said on the occasion of his 100th Ireland cap...

"It is hard to sum up to be honest. A very special night for me and my family.

"The boys showed up for me tonight, it was a big performance for a lot of reasons.

"I thought our defence showed up really well and we were clinical in the first half. I think we will have bigger tests down the line over the next few weeks."

What's next?

The victory means Ireland top Pool B, which will see them face Pool A runners-up New Zealand in a blockbuster quarter-final on Saturday, October 14 in Paris (8pm kick-off BST).

The defeat completes Scotland's World Cup schedule, as they finish third in Pool B above Tonga and Romania, but below Ireland and South Africa, exiting at the pool stage as they did at the 2019 World Cup in Japan.