Tomorrow's match at Murrayfield will be Ireland's last match in the Five Nations Championship and, of course, Ireland's final championship match of this century.

Next season it will be a six nations series when the Italians join the fold, an appropriate time for a new entry into the series that has been a five nations affair since the French rejoined the championship in 1947 after their expulsion in 1931.

Unfortunately the glories that Ireland achieved in the last season of the last century, when the Triple Crown and Championship were won, cannot be repeated tomorrow. The defeat a fortnight ago by England killed all such ambitions. Now it is akin to a damage limitation exercise, the hope that Ireland can gain the two points that will mean two wins in the championship.

This would be the first time we would have achieved this since 1993, and indeed only the second time in 12 seasons. In 1993, Ireland beat Wales and England, and in 1987 the wins were also achieved against the same pair.

At the outset of the campaign this season the Ireland management stated that the minimum return they hoped for was that the team would achieve two wins from the four matches.

I think it is fair to say that the minimum the Irish supporters were entitled to expect also was two wins from the championship.

France should have been beaten, Ireland deserved to defeat Wales and most certainly can have no complaints about the result against England.

It is now time for the team to deliver against Scotland, who despite beating Wales in Murrayfield in what was a match of relatively poor standard, and that they ran England close, look far from an accomplished side.

This is an important match for Ireland even if those tangible rewards of Triple Crown or Championship are out of reach. It is also an important match for the players and, I venture to say, the management trio as well.

For some of the players, tomorrow should be the day they deliver. If not, then the management should be looking elsewhere for the match against Italy on April 10th and the tour to Australia. Ireland also play Argentina in Dublin in August before the World Cup.

Time is relatively short now before the World Cup, but the evidence is convincing that problems still exist for Ireland in some positions and the management cannot keep selecting players in the hope that they will come good.

Overall the pack was disappointing against England and the persistence in holding the ball in the back row was hard to understand. The back row against England was not effective and it was difficult to understand why Eric Miller was not brought on much earlier than the closing stages.

Victor Costello and Andy Ward were well below their best and the injuries they had sustained in the weeks prior to the match obviously had their effects.

It is a great pity that Denis Hickie got injured, lost form and lost confidence. Hickie at his best would be a significant addition. Talent is thin in the wing positions.

Jonathan Bell's recurring injury problems are also a cause of worry for quality is thin on the ground in the centre as well. But it is good to see Bell back for the match. Nor has Conor McGuinness been convincing at scrum-half, for all his bravery and industry. He needs a big match tomorrow.

THERE was a time when one felt confident about a match against Scotland, and that Ireland's best hope of a win in the championship annually was against Scotland. Ireland had a better record against them than against any of the other countries in the championship.

The first country Ireland beat was Scotland in 1881. And while the Scots stayed well ahead in terms of overall wins in the series, having won 14 of the first 15 matches between the countries, thereafter the balance was much more even.

Indeed, by 1988 Ireland had narrowed the gap in relation to wins, 45 to the Scots' 49. Ireland won eight years in succession between 1947 and 1954, and indeed 12 times in 13 matches between 1947 and 1959. Ireland then won five-in-a-row between 1967 and 1971 and results between the countries from 1971 to 1988 were fairly even.

But it is now 11 years since Ireland last defeated Scotland, 22-18 at Lansdowne Road, and 14 since we last won in Murrayfield. That 1985 victory was gained in thrilling fashion through a great try in the dying moments.

Since the win in Dublin in 1988, the best results against the Scots was a 6-6 draw in Dublin in 1994. This means the Scots have won 10 of the last 11 matches, including a 24-15 win in the World Cup in 1991 in Murrayfield.

What's remarkable is that, while the Scots did the Grand Slam in 1990, that apart they have not exactly set the world alight over the last decade. But they certainly have had the capacity to beat Ireland with disturbing regularity. Since 1988 the Scots have lost five times to Wales, 11 times to England and seven times to France.

So Ireland will need to break the losing sequence against the Scots tomorrow, otherwise it will be one win for Ireland from the Championship this season and the possibility of finishing at the bottom of the table, bearing in mind that Wales have also got two points in the bank from that great win in Paris a fortnight ago, as do the Scots, who beat Wales.

WHAT makes the recurring defeats against Scotland at senior level all the more frustrating is that at underage levels Ireland has a superb record. Since the countries first met at schools level in 1976, Ireland has lost just once to the Scots. Ireland has won every match at Under-21 level between the countries. Even at youths, Under-18 level, Ireland has won four times in the last five years and the only defeat in that period was by a point. At A and B levels the countries are level in the number of wins.

In the European Cup, Ireland's provinces have a much better record than the Scottish regional teams. Yet it has been recurring defeat at the most important level of all.

The trend needs to be arrested and the time has come for that to happen. If not, the consequences for some could be considerable.