On Scotland’s loss to Ireland in their opening match:

“It is disappointing. We didn’t start with the energy, accuracy and aggression that is required to beat a team like Ireland. They took their chances well when they got into our 22.

“If you give any team in world rugby a 15 to 20 point start, it is going to be very difficult to come back.

“They just converted mistakes into territory, and mistakes into points. They have a template we all know about and if you give them chances in your third of the field, you can’t afford to do that.”

On what Scotland need to do now to qualify for the quarter-finals:

“We need to win our next three matches, regardless of the result today. We have to bounce back and play a lot better against Samoa, Russia and Japan, who started the tournament well.”

On the feeling in the squad:

“When you don’t play your best in your first game of a World Cup, then you will obviously be disappointed. We didn’t show the best version of ourselves tonight.

“We must play much better in our next three games if we are going to get out of our pool and progress into the quarter-finals and I believe we will be.”