Gregor Townsend said, “To get the bonus point was a very good start to the Championship.

“I think the way we adjusted things after half-time was great to see, we felt that we had done a lot of good things in the first 10 minutes of the second half but didn’t get the reward.

“We didn’t really play with the energy we know we’re capable of in the second quarter, but we showed it in the third quarter.

“The final quarter, yes, was disappointing but there were other circumstances there, with the yellow card and a few changes that we made with an eye on next week with the guys carrying a couple of injuries.

“It was disappointing, also, that we didn’t get that try for Stuart Hogg, it looked a world class try and it’s one of our players that is pushed off the ball, but we will have to improve, Ireland are going to run the ball whenever we aren’t in place defensively and will put pressure on us for 80 minutes.

“Those last 15 minutes for us were a reminder that if we drop our focus at all then we’ll pay the price.

“Blair took his tries really well and has been playing regularly at full-back and he’s a purpose player in our squad and showed that today, with a lot of good finishing.”

Scotland now prepare for their next fixture against Ireland at BT Murrayfield next Saturday (2.15pm kick off).