Cantillon sparkles as Irish fell Scots

Ireland 43 Scotland 1

Halifax hooker Phil Cantillon led an incredible second half comeback by Ireland in Navan as they bounced back from 10-3 down at half-time to thrash Scotland and earn a place in the European Nations Cup final.

The Ireland skipper scored four of their seven second half tries as Scotland crumbled.

But man of the match was Karl Fitzpatrick, the Salford scrum-half, who scored two tries, kicked two goals and tormented Scotland throughout a torrid second half.

The visitors, who had controlled much of the first half, were down to 12 men shortly after the break when Salford prop Neil Lowe was sin-binned for blocking Fitzpatrick off the ball.

In his absence Fitzpatrick and then Cantillon both crossed the try line to put Ireland ahead for the first time.

Scotland were struggling but seemed to be holding on until Fitzpatrick intercepted an Andrew Henderson pass and sprinted half the length of the field to open up a nine point lead.

Scotland collapsed in the final quarter with Cantillon taking advantage of a loose ball to score from close range, then Fitzpatrick sending Ged Corcoran in the clear to put Ireland out of reach.

In the final two minutes Cantillon completed his hat-trick and then raced clear for his fourth try of an exhilarating evening.