The Irish back line, with the exception of David Humphreys, seemed to have been chosen all season with defence as the uppermost requirement. Humphreys was not the preferred out-half choice of Warren Gatland before the championship began, but he forced his selection through a series of fine performances in Ulster's European Cup success. Gatland had always preferred the greater defensive strength of Eric Elwood and most people would have agreed with him.

It is not surprising, therefore, that our biggest shortcoming, so forcefully exposed in Murrayfield in particular, is the inability of our back line to create chances or to capitalise on opportunities presented by the forwards.

It is also interesting that the only back who started all four championship matches, and who emerged with an enhanced reputation, was Humphreys. I regret that we haven't discovered an attacking midfield player throughout the season. Some people will say that Rob Henderson made a lot of ground in each game which he played, but he doesn't have the skill or subtlety to put his team-mates away.

He invariably goes to ground, so that his "breaks" are more similar to those made by any of the forwards. All defences are now well able to cope with these. It is much more difficult to deal with breaks that put people into space, such as the Scots did - and were always trying to do - on Saturday.

The match was exciting because it was so open. It was also full of errors and this added to the excitement, as the referee played the advantage laws to the maximum.

The Scots seemed better equipped to take advantage of our mistakes and this won the match for them. In fact it is fair to say they constructed two of their scores and capitalised on Irish mistakes for the two others. Our single try came from a turn-over in a Scottish ruck followed by a wonderful piece of individual play by Dion O'Cuinnegain.

O'Cuinnegain was Ireland's outstanding player, and showed clearly why he was good enough to represent South Africa in the Hong Kong Sevens. For me he has been the Irish forward of the season. It is a terrible indictment of the Irish side, however, that for the last 79 minutes of a loose, error-ridden, free-flowing match, we failed to score a try.

An early score can often lift a team and demoralise their opponents. It didn't have that effect on Saturday as Scotland didn't seem slightly perturbed. In fact there was a certain degree of arrogance in the manner in which they scored their first two tries so easily.

The Irish side fought hard to get back into the game, particularly coming up to half-time and for the first 20 minutes of the second half, at the end of which we got the margin down to 15-13.

Then it all started to go wrong and, as the game became more open, Scotland took their opportunities and easily stretched away. There was a feeling of inevitability about it at that stage. What we had seen in the previous 60 minutes and what we had witnessed all season made it obvious that tries don't come easily to this Irish side. We were never going to pull back such a wide margin.

I got the feeling, as the game wore on, that the forwards were resigned to their fate and many of them had seen it all before, particularly against Scotland over recent years. By the end many of them were going through the motions of trying to salvage some pride from the occasion.

A number of them have under-performed to a remarkable degree. The English defeat seems to have damaged their morale more than anyone expected. It was hard to believe Ireland had basically the same pack that had performed so cohesively and efficiently against South Africa and France earlier in the season. Overall, Saturday's performance was more similar to the untidy World Cup qualifiers.

I hope, Paul Wallace will get a decent break before the World Cup; he looks exhausted. Keith Wood needs to concentrate on getting his basics right, as he is certainly going to be a marked man by all of Ireland's opponents. On Saturday he ran far too upright when in possession and was turned over too easily, and again a number of throws didn't hit the target, although the lineouts were overall better than against England.

Peter Clohessy did reasonably well but also looked tired. Jeremy Davidson did well in the lineouts but was not nearly as effective around the park as we expected him to be this season.

Paddy Johns played extremely well and probably got through the greatest amount of hard graft of all the forwards. Throughout his 50 caps honesty has been his trademark.

Eric Miller was lively until his departure, and while Victor Costello did well, the game would have suited Miller better. Andy Ward had another disappointing game and missed some critical tackles. People have suggested that he is not fully fit, and if that's the case then the decision to play him hasn't done himself or the team any favours. I hope he will rediscover his form of last season before the World Cup.

Gatland has another dilemma at scrum-half. Conor McGuinness is a shadow of the player who performed such heroics in Paris last season. He seems to have lost the confidence, even arrogance, which is essential for an international scrum-half. Injuries have badly hampered his season and he may need time to re-establish himself.

I hope the Italian game will be used to test a couple of younger players, as there are more important matters than just winning the match.

From a long-term perspective, we should engage in a re-evaluation of the attitude which prevails at mini rugby level, youth level, and in particular schools' level, which places a far greater emphasis on winning (or not losing) than on the quality of the individual and collective performance.

As a rugby nation we have always been forward orientated in our approach and thinking. The standard of back play must be a priority for the future.

(In an interview with Johnny Watterson)