Scotland rugby 1979 v Wales

Scotland rugby 1979 against Wales and it`s the Andy Irvine show. He starts it with a great sidestep and backs up to finish it.

Scotland in traditional shirts

Scotland are in their dark tops and white shorts playing right to left.

A scrum on halfway and the Welsh get to put the ball in.

The ball comes out of the scrum nicely for Wales but the scrum-half is put under severe pressure by his opposite number.

The pressure results in a hurried pass which in turn puts the Welsh fly-half under pressure which he attempts to escape by kicking.

The kick is not good!

The kick is charged down by a Scot harrassing the kicker.

But Wales recover. They scramble and manage to hold their position.

Again the ball is sent out to the fly-half. Even though he`s under less pressure this time, he again decides to kick.

It`s neither a long searching kick nor a shortish chip for chasing.

It`s a bit of an aimless kick, no real intention.

The result - Andy Irvine the Scottish fullback is under no pressure at all. He takes his time, gathers the ball and begins to run.

He has already made 10 metres befor he encounters a lone Welsh chaser.

He beats his opponent with a lovely sidestep and makes another 5 metres before switching play, giving the ball to a forward running in support.

Other forwards become involved, attacking their Welsh counterparts.

Unfortunately for the Welsh they are in disarray, having failed to recover properly from the charge-down and facing an unexpected counter attack.

Fly-half Rutherford makes a clean break, straight up the middle of the field because of the disorganised defence.

Scottish players carry the ball on down-field, one of the forwards linking to the supporting backs with an overhead lob.

The final pass leaves the ball with Irvine, the player who started it all with his adventurous sidestep.

What does he do - he finishes it off with a little jink inside.

Great play, great sidesteps, great try, great Scottish rugby!

You`ll find it on the rugby video tape "101 Best Tries - with Cliff Morgan" - my VCR says it`s around the 49:38 mark.

"Andy Irvine - 1979 Scotland v Wales" is the heading.

Great sidestep.

Imagine how good it is when you see it from the inside!