"The set-piece ball is the beginning, not the end," said Scotland coach Ian McGeechan at the post-mortem, turning around the accepted view that scrums and lineouts lord over the modern game.

"We led to our own downfall. We made easy mistakes, which ultimately gave Ireland soft scores," said McGeechan.

"If you make mistakes in the scrum and lineout, as Ireland did, you don't win the game if you don't play off them. If we were making mistakes, it doesn't matter if we're winning the scrum and the lineout, we're giving it (possession) back to them. The Irish backs are strong and good when they get the ball in space. They actually got that easy today and at this level that kills."

Bryan Redpath, the Scotland captain, also saw the match as one that evaporated in front of them because of their elementary errors.

"To lose the ball on so many occasions was disappointing. Against Ireland you cannot do that," said Redpath. "As a game it was not hugely physical. We just couldn't keep a hold of the ball or keep our discipline,"

As Scotland see themselves as a team on the rise, the performance as much as the result was a frustration.

"There were dropped balls, there were balls down. I think we came a long way defensively and that's why I think today was so disappointing. The whole idea of being strong when you don't have the ball is because you're pretty miserly with it. I'd say we were pretty generous today," said McGeechan.