Ireland's third Triple Crown triumph in four years, secured by an untidy 19-18 win over Scotland at Murrayfield, has been overshadowed by a row and alleged choking assault on flyhalf Ronan O'Gara.
Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan claimed after the match that a Scots player had left O'Gara blue in the face and close to losing consciousness by deliberately blocking his windpipe at the bottom of a ruck within a minute of the end of the match.
The allegation was denied by a spokesman for the Scottish Rugby Union, who insisted: "We refute absolutely any allegation of foul play at the end of the game."
PHOTO: AP
O'Gara's teammates called medical staff after he failed to get up from the ruck and his breathing quickly returned to normal.
O'Sullivan said he did not want to identify the Scottish player he believed to have been involved and said Ireland would not be pursuing the matter as the incident had not been caught by television cameras.
"When there is no evidence on the television, unless the guy puts up his hand nothing is going to happen," O'Sullivan said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The Irish coach admitted he had not been able to see what was allegedly happening in the ruck, but made it clear he felt the Scottish player had acted maliciously.
"If you put a hand round the guys neck and choke hirm, it is hard to happen by accident isn't it," O'Sullivan said. "Some of the players saw it and when the ruck broke up, Rog [O'Gara] has gone blue in the face and he was losing consciousness at that stage. It was an unfortunate incident but it happened."
Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll said O'Gara had been left badly shaken.
"It is not a nice situation to find yourself in. Only once have I found myself vulnerable on a rugby pitch. When you feel helpless it is not a nice feeling, so I'm sure he would as soon forget it," he said.
Ireland needed two late penalties from O'Gara, who delivered all their points, to secure their one-point victory having failed to take the chances they enjoyed in the first half and at the start of the second, when Scotland were a man down following the sin-binning of forward Nathan Hines.
O'Sullivan however paid tribute to his side's resilience in ensuring they delivered the victory that had been widely regarded as a foregone conclusion after the record defeat of England in Dublin two weeks ago.
"The game was always going to be a dogfight," O'Sullivan said. "The hooplah in the media was complete nonsense but we never bought into that and having that headset was very important."
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