Ireland needed both a win and a convincing performance to substantiate the assertion of coach and players that they had indeed turned a corner in Paris a fortnight ago. They got both, setting themselves up for a fascinating encounter with Wales here in a fortnight’s time.

They trailed the Scots in possession and territory stats but had a cutting edge Scotland can only dream of, encapsulated in their fourth try on 62 minutes, finished by Tommy Bowe. Two offloads in the build-up by Geordan Murphy and Ronan O’Gara would make any “best-of” DVD.

The result leaves Scotland hot favourites for a wooden spoon, especially as they must play Italy in Rome on the final day of the championship. With Andy Rob-inson coaching the Scotland A side to a 67-7 win in Perth on Friday night, the clamour for Frank Hadden’s removal is growing.

By picking Chris Paterson at fly-half, Hadden sent out the message that Scotland were abandoning the deliberate, territorial approach and coming to explore the broad expanses of Croke Park. Starting into a strong breeze would have encouraged them further still, and as it turned out they owned the ball for the first 10 minutes.

For the most part this was due to their domination of the Irish lineout, with Scott MacLeod pinching Bernard Jackman’s first throw, Nathan Hines his third. Scotland took their opponents through the phases, rarely threatening to puncture their defensive line but working them hard.

The key was putting points on the board, however – achieve this, and the Scots had some fuel in the tank, some much-needed confidence. The points never came, however. When Hines became isolated, Denis Leamy forced the turnover and Ireland were out of their brief spell of trouble. Scotland had other half-opportunities but they butchered them – Nikki Walker’s failure to run an inside line off Andy Henderson betrayed an appalling lack of awareness.

Murphy’s ensuing clearance kick brought a communal sigh of relief from Croke Park. We were 15 minutes into the game and Ireland had barely fired a shot. But once some decent tactical kicking by Murphy and Eoin Reddan gave them field position, they took points off Scotland with frightening ease. The Scots did manage to repel Ireland’s favour-ite lineout move involving Reddan through the middle, but the Irish pack regrouped, and their picking and driving set up an attacking scrum under the posts. They made this pay.

This will be another painful video moment, especially for Scottish No 8 Kelly Brown. Reddan did distract the defence with his dummy run but there is no excuse for the No 8 leaving his post as he did. All it took was a simple inside pass from Jamie Heaslip and David Wallace was strolling under the posts.

Scotland’s only comfort was Paterson’s first penalty but Ireland struck again – their second try in the space of four minutes. If the first had been all about the directness of the forwards, this was a back-line creation. Murphy set it up just inside the Scottish half, brilliantly gathering a clearance kick and retaining possession despite being taken out mid-air. O’Gara’s contribution was also key, as his straight running created the space for Brian O’Driscoll. The Ireland captain’s long pass to Rob Kearney was also spot on, and the young winger had just enough gas to score. O’Gara’s touchline conversion meant Ireland had full value from their brief spell on the front foot.

For it was a brief spell. Scotland promptly won another penalty at the breakdown, allowing Paterson to do what he does best. Meanwhile, Jackman’s ongoing lineout nightmare kept the Scots very much interested.

Once again, however, Scotland couldn’t make possession and territory pay. Paterson threatened to dance through at one stage but Ireland regrouped and forced Scotland back in the scrum. It took superb defence to stop Walker in the right corner. Ireland were clinging on at this stage – until Hines did them a massive favour.

Just as referee Christophe Ber-dos had awarded the Scots a penalty five metres from the Irish line, Hines allowed himself to lose his temper with Leamy. The penalty was reversed and Ireland escaped to the dressing room with their 14-6 lead intact.

They soon extended it. Only 35 seconds of the second half had passed when Marcus Horan touched down for the third try. This time Ireland took the aerial route as O’Gara found his loose-head prop completely unmarked and barely breaking stride to gather and score.

To their credit, Scotland dug in grimly and clung to their patterns in the hope that something would come of it. It did too, when Simon Webster latched onto a clever offload by Henderson to end the Scotland try drought – this was only their second touchdown in the space of six games. There would be no dramatic turnaround, however – Bowe’s double saw to that, as the wing crossed again in the 79th minute after good work by Shane Horgan for Ireland’s fifth. Scotland battled gamely but were creatively bereft and lost Jim Hamilton at the end to a suspected broken leg. Ireland, meanwhile, are back on track.

Star man: Geordan Murphy(Ireland)

Ireland:G Murphy (Leicester); T Bowe (Ulster), B O'Driscoll (Leinster, capt, S Horgan (Leinster) 71min), A Trimble (Ulster), R Kearney (Leinster); R O’Gara (Munster), E Reddan (Wasps, P Stringer (Munster) 72min); M Horan (Munster), B Jackman (Leinster, R Best (Ulster) 43min), J Hayes (Munster, T Buckley (Muinster) 74min), D O’Callaghan (Munster), M O’Driscoll (Munster, P O’Connell (Munster) 55min), D Leamy (Munster), J Heaslip (Leinster, S Easterby (Scarlets) 70min), D Wallace (Munster).

Scotland:H Southwell (Edinburgh, D Parks (Glasgow) 67min); N Walker (Ospreys, N de Luca (Edinburgh) 62-67min), S Webster (Edinburgh), A Henderson (Glasgow, N de Luca (Edinburgh) 70min), R Lamont (Sale); C Paterson (Gloucester), M Blair (Edinburgh, capt, C Cusiter (Perpignan) 72min); A Jacobsen (Edinburgh, G Kerr (Edinburgh) 72min), R Ford (Edinburgh, F Thompson (Glasgow) 70min), E Murray (Northampton, R Ford (Edinburgh) 76min), N Hines (Perpignan, J Hamilton (Leicester) 64min), S MacLeod (Scarlets), A Strokosch (Gloucester), K Brown (Glasgow, R Rennie (Edingburgh) 46min), A Hogg (Edinburgh). Tries: Wallace 22, Kearney 26, Horan 41, Bowe 62, 79. Cons: O’Gara (3). Pen: O’Gara Try: Webster 53 Con: Paterson. Pens: Paterson (2)

Referee: C Berdos (France). Attendance: 74,234