DUBLIN (AP) — Ireland kept alive its Six Nations title hopes and buried Scotland's in a familiar-looking 43-21 victory to launch the final round on Saturday.
The Irish moved three points ahead of France, which hosted England in the day's last match in Paris. Ireland was two minutes from being crowned champion but France's Thomas Ramos kicked a last-second penalty to win the match and title 48-46.
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Ireland's Caelan Doris, center, lifts the Triple Crown trophy with teammates after the Six Nations rugby union match between Ireland and Scotland, in Dublin, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (Brian Lawless/PA via AP)
Ireland's team celebrates after winning the "triple crown" trophy following the Six Nations rugby union match against Scotland, in Dublin, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Ireland's Dan Sheehan, right, dives over the line to score a try as Scotland's captain Sione Tuipulotu tries to tackle him during the Six Nations rugby union match between Ireland and Scotland, in Dublin, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Scotland's Finn Russell, from, scores a try during the Six Nations rugby union match between Ireland and Scotland, in Dublin, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Ireland's Jamie Osborne, right, scores a try as teammate Dan Sheehan celebrates during the Six Nations rugby union match between Ireland and Scotland, in Dublin, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Ireland's Robert Baloucoune, right, scores a try as Scotland's Darcy Graham watches on during the Six Nations rugby union match between Ireland and Scotland, in Dublin, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Ireland's Jamie Osborne, right, celebrates his teammates after scoring a try during the Six Nations rugby union match between Ireland and Scotland, in Dublin, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Ireland finished second, two points behind the French, who crushed the Irish 36-14 on opening night in Paris.
The Irish at least won the Triple Crown for a fourth time in five seasons, denying the Scots their first sweep of the home nations since 1990.
“We are proud of how we have performed when we've had to and that's five trophies in five years for us,” Ireland coach Andy Farrell said. “I know it's (another) Triple Crown but it's been hard to win over the years for Ireland and we're proud of that.”
Both sides began the match with title ambitions. But to win their first title since 1999, the Scots had ghosts to exorcize. They'd won only once in Dublin in 26 years, not since 2010, and never at Aviva Stadium. They'd also lost their last 11 contests to Ireland.
Ireland's modus operandi was power, controlling the gainline, and relentless pressure. They smashed a Scotland side that put 50 points and seven tries on hapless France last weekend.
“We saw what their attack was capable of last week and again today it came in waves, but our defense stood up and big moments helped keep them out,” Ireland captain Caelan Doris told broadcaster ITV.
“There were some calm heads in there which was helped by the fact we had scoreboard pressure throughout from a fast start which we aimed for as well. It felt composed out there and it was good.”
Ireland started fast again, scored six tries — three in each half — with five converted by Jack Crowley who added a penalty. Scotland trailed 19-7 at halftime and twice rallied to within five points, but each time Ireland had a quick response.
“I’m gutted,” Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu said. “We really set our sights on coming here and getting a result but Ireland were too good. We’ve made progression but we want to be where these guys are with a trophy.”
The game was intense and lively from the start.
The first scrum earned a penalty that moved Ireland into the Scotland 22. Fast hands fed fullback Jamie Osborne bursting between the posts for their quickest try of this championship, just after two minutes.
Scotland fired back in 19 phases. With big gains by forwards Jack Dempsey and George Turner, Finn Russell orchestrating, Darcy Graham finished out wide for his Scotland record-extending 38th try.
But an offside penalty against Graham sent Scotland reeling back to its tryline again, and Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan shot out of a collapsing maul for his 18th try, extending his Six Nations record for a forward.
Ireland was 19-7 ahead after 19 minutes with a try from first phase when midfielder Stuart McCloskey threw a huge pass to unmarked right wing Robert Baloucoune, whose pace beat the cover.
Ireland's defense in its 22 then turned over Scotland three times before halftime.
The Scottish backs finally clicked in the second half with tries by Russell and Rory Darge, but Ireland quickly restored 12-point leads after converted tries by Darragh Murray, a brief blood-bin replacement for the immense Tadhg Beirne, and winger Tommy O'Brien.
Crowley added a penalty to give Ireland a three-score lead and Irish supporters broke into song. Just for unnecessary gloss to the scoreline, O'Brien scored his second try of the match after Tuipulotu spilled the ball with time up.
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
Ireland's Caelan Doris, center, lifts the Triple Crown trophy with teammates after the Six Nations rugby union match between Ireland and Scotland, in Dublin, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (Brian Lawless/PA via AP)
Ireland's team celebrates after winning the "triple crown" trophy following the Six Nations rugby union match against Scotland, in Dublin, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Ireland's Dan Sheehan, right, dives over the line to score a try as Scotland's captain Sione Tuipulotu tries to tackle him during the Six Nations rugby union match between Ireland and Scotland, in Dublin, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Scotland's Finn Russell, from, scores a try during the Six Nations rugby union match between Ireland and Scotland, in Dublin, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Ireland's Jamie Osborne, right, scores a try as teammate Dan Sheehan celebrates during the Six Nations rugby union match between Ireland and Scotland, in Dublin, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Ireland's Robert Baloucoune, right, scores a try as Scotland's Darcy Graham watches on during the Six Nations rugby union match between Ireland and Scotland, in Dublin, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Ireland's Jamie Osborne, right, celebrates his teammates after scoring a try during the Six Nations rugby union match between Ireland and Scotland, in Dublin, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
HOUSTON (AP) — Artemis II’s astronauts returned from the moon with a dramatic splashdown in the Pacific on Friday to close out humanity’s first lunar voyage in more than a half-century.
It was a triumphant homecoming for the crew of four whose record-breaking lunar flyby revealed not only swaths of the moon’s far side — never seen before by human eyes — but a total solar eclipse.
Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen hit the atmosphere traveling Mach 33 — or 33 times the speed of sound — a blistering blur not seen since NASA’s Apollo moonshots of the 1960s and 1970s. Their Orion capsule, dubbed Integrity, made the plunge on automatic pilot.
The tension in Mission Control mounted as the capsule became engulfed in red-hot plasma during peak heating and entered a planned communication blackout.
All eyes were on the capsule’s life-protecting heat shield that had to withstand thousands of degrees during reentry. On the spacecraft’s only other test flight — in 2022, with no one on board — the shield’s charred exterior came back looking as pockmarked as the moon.
Like so many others, lead flight director Jeff Radigan anticipated feeling some of that “irrational fear that is human nature,” especially during the six-minute blackout that preceded the opening of the parachutes. The recovery ship USS John P. Murtha awaited the crew’s arrival off the San Diego coast, along with a squadron of military planes and helicopters.
The astronauts’ families huddled in Mission Control’s viewing room, where cheers erupted when the capsule emerged from its communication blackout and again at splashdown.
The last time NASA and the Defense Department teamed up for a lunar crew's reentry was Apollo 17 in 1972. Artemis II was projected to come screaming back at 36,170 feet (11,025 meters) per second — or 24,661 mph (39,668 kph) — just shy of the record before slowing to a 19 mph (30 kph) splashdown.
“A perfect bull’s-eye splashdown,” reported Mission Control’s Rob Navias.
Launched from Florida on April 1, the astronauts racked up one win after another as they deftly navigated NASA’s long-awaited lunar comeback, the first major step in establishing a sustainable moon base.
Artemis II didn't land on the moon or even orbit it. But it broke Apollo 13's distance record and marked the farthest that humans have ever journeyed from Earth when the crew reached 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers). Then in the mission's most heart-tugging scene, the teary astronauts asked permission to name a pair of craters after their moonship and Wiseman's late wife, Carroll.
During Monday's record-breaking flyby, they documented scenes of the moon's far side never seen before by the human eye along with a total solar eclipse. The eclipse, in particular, “just blew all of us away,” Glover said.
Their sense of wonder and love awed everyone, as did their breathtaking pictures of the moon and Earth. The Artemis II crew channeled Apollo 8's first lunar explorers with Earthset, showing our Blue Marble setting behind the gray moon. It was reminiscent of Apollo 8’s famous Earthrise shot from 1968.
“It just makes you want to continue to go back,” Radigan said on the eve of splashdown. “It's the first of many trips and we just need to continue on because there’s so much” more to learn about the moon.
Their moonshot drew global attention as well as star power, earning props from President Donald Trump; Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney; Britain's King Charles III; Ryan Gosling, star of the latest space flick “Project Hail Mary”; Scarlett Johansson of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; and even Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner of TV’s original “Star Trek.”
Despite its rich scientific yield, the nearly 10-day flight was not without technical issues. Both the capsule’s drinking water and propellant systems were hit with valve problems. In perhaps the most high-profile predicament, the toilet kept malfunctioning, but the astronauts shrugged it all off.
“We can’t explore deeper unless we are doing a few things that are inconvenient,” Koch said, “unless we’re making a few sacrifices, unless we’re taking a few risks, and those things are all worth it.”
Added Hansen: “You do a lot of testing on the ground, but your final test is when you get this hardware to space and it’s a doozy.”
Under the revamped Artemis program, next year’s Artemis III will see astronauts practice docking their capsule with a lunar lander or two in orbit around Earth. Artemis IV will attempt to land a crew of two near the moon’s south pole in 2028.
The Artemis II astronauts' allegiance was to those future crews, Wiseman said.
“But we really hoped in our soul is that we could for just for a moment have the world pause and remember that this is a beautiful planet and a very special place in our universe, and we should all cherish what we have been gifted,” he said.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
In this photo provided by NASA, the Orion spacecraft with Artemis II crewmembers aboard approaches the surface of the Pacific Ocean for splashdown off the coast of California, Friday, April 10, 2026. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)
In this photo provided by NASA, the Orion spacecraft with Artemis II crewmembers aboard approaches the surface of the Pacific Ocean for splashdown off the coast of California, Friday, April 10, 2026. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)
In this image from video provided by NASA, the Artemis II Orion capsule splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, on Friday, April 10, 2026. (NASA via AP)
In this photo provided by NASA, U.S. Navy divers prepare to deploy in small boats from the well deck of USS John P. Murtha to recover Artemis II crew members NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander; Victor Glover, pilot; Christina Koch, mission specialist; and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist and NASA's Orion spacecraft in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, Friday, April 10, 2026. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)
In this image from video provided by NASA, the Artemis II Orion capsule, right, separates from the service module above the Earth in preparation for splash down in the Pacific Ocean. (NASA via AP)
In this image provided by NASA, the Artemis II crew, counterclockwise from top left, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, and Pilot Victor Glover pose with eclipse viewers during a lunar flyby, Monday, April 6, 2026. (NASA via AP)
In this image provided by NASA, the Artemis II crew photographed the Moons curved limb during their journey around the far side of the Moon on April 6, 2026. (NASA via AP)
In this image provided by NASA, the Artemis II crew photographed a bright portion of the Moon on April 6, 2026. (NASA via AP)
In this image provided by NASA, the Artemis II crew captured this view as the Earth sets behind the Moon during a lunar flyby, Monday, April 6, 2026. (NASA via AP)
