Rory Darge explains what went wrong for Scotland as pundits weigh in on another defeat by Ireland

With fellow skipper Finn Russell understandably relinquished of media duties after suffering a head injury during the match, it was left to Darge to face the music as Scotland tried once more to explain away another loss at the hands of the Irish.

“Yeah, it's a tough scoreline to take,” said a downbeat Darge. “I think probably the most obvious difference is just how clinical Ireland were and we weren't clinical enough.

“I've obviously not watched it back yet, so it’s tough to really say where it went wrong. But I think it felt like they just took their opportunities better.

“I think the fight was there from everyone on the pitch until the end, but in terms of scoring, getting away from us, it came down to errors from our side and the reverse on their side.

“Ireland got into our 22 too often and, with a team who are as clinical as they are, you're always going to have a tough day.”

Darge refuted any suggestions that Scotland lost the physical battle with the Irish. ”No, I think that's Ireland's game, isn't it?” continued the flanker. “They like to run those really tight shapes and make it difficult to defend and then blast you at the right time, but I don't think we felt physically dominated.

“We had five opportunities in their 22 and we lost the ball, whilst they were obviously very clinical. That's what I think the difference was. Ireland are ruthless, they're clinical, and they make you feel like you're under a massive amount of pressure.”

“It's tough in these weeks when you work so hard throughout the week, build it up so much, build so much belief in yourself and your team, and then you go out and you just don't perform as well as you would like to and come out on the wrong end of the result like that. It's a sore feeling, as you can imagine.”

Pundits lined up to have their say on Scotland’s performance, with one of their former back-rowers John Barclay commenting: “The nature of that game is slightly alarming for Scotland, the first 30 minutes or so. Against a team you have such a poor record against, you have to start well.

“They have to look at how they fix these drops in performances in matches. That level of consistency, especially away from home - they will have to be much better against England [their next opponent on February 22].”

The view from Ireland was also scathing, with their ex-second row Donncha O’Callaghan remarking: “This Ireland team can get an awful lot better. They'll come away from this game and have areas to improve on and get better.

“I think Scotland got the wrong set-up today - they tried to run from too far in their half, the players lacked physicality and though they brought that in the second half, they left themselves too much work to do.

“They'll be frustrated because yet again Scotland have underperformed against Ireland.”

Legendary Ireland stand-off Ronan O’Gara, who is now in charge of La Rochelle, added: “It was ruthless from minute one. Total domination. Scotland didn't get any in. Normally in a Test match the lead changes hands a couple of times and it's in the balance.

“Today the biggest surprise is that it finished 32-18. It felt like a 40-point victory and maybe if Ireland need to, I think they've another couple of gears to go.”