Ireland beat Scotland 28-6 in their Six Nations opener at the Aviva.
After an attritional opening 35 minutes at the Aviva, with just two Jonathan Sexton penalties answered by lone score by Greig Laidlaw, Ireland finally managed to click into gear.
Joe Schmidt’s men thought they had their first try when some sublime work from Sexton put Jamie Heaslip in, but he failed to get the ball over the line.
Moments later, however, Trimble had no such problems after being played in by Rob Kearney.
Another Laidlaw penalty brought the deficit back to 11-6 early in the second half, but it wasn’t long before the Irish tide roared forward again and man of the match Heaslip drove over the line, with Sexton converting.
Scotland were demoralised further when a Sexton penalty put Ireland 15 points in front with 25 minutes remaining.
Rob Kearney got in on the action after a fine offload by Dan Tuohy, going over to score his ninth international try on his 50th cap, Sexton converting again.
With the match all but won and only seven minutes remaining, Brian O’Driscoll, Sexton, Devin Toner and Conor Murray were all brought off by Schmidt with one eye on next weekend’s clash with Wales.
A late, acrobatic effort from Dave Kearney – put through from a lovely Paddy Jackson dink – was ruled out, but it was still an impressive 28-6 win for the hosts.
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