Scotland skipper Budge Pountney launched a scathing attack on the critics who had written his team off as Six Nations no-hopers.

The Scots had largely been ignored in the build-up to the Murrayfield clash with Ireland, most pundits believing the game was merely a stepping stone to a Dublin title decider with England.

But Scotland hit top form, Pountney grabbing the first of four tries, as they recorded a fully deserved 32-10 win.

The margin of victory would have been even wider had Girvan Dempsey not crossed for a late consolation which did little to dampen the mood of euphoria in the Scottish camp.

"To suggest that only one team should turn up was ridiculous," said the Northampton flanker. "It happens all the time. I'm bored with it now and just ignore it.

"People said that we had no motivation for the game. It is utter rubbish. I am proud of the players for what they achieved today because what was said beforehand was pretty poor."

Pountney admitted he took the decision to remove the goalkicking responsibility from Gregor Townsend, Chris Paterson landing four from five attempts as his replacement.

Paterson also set up his captain's try, which was followed by a bulldozing effort from Tom Smith.

With Ireland on the back foot, Townsend created another score for John Leslie after the interval, before Andrew Henderson marked his debut with a touchdown after the visiting defence failed to clear a deep Bryan Redpath kick.

The victory almost certainly ensures England will be crowned Six Nations champions for the second successive season, a feat watching coach Clive Woodward will want to cap with a Grand Slam when his side visit the Irish capital next month.

After his own problems in recent times, McGeechan wasn't interested in the wider picture, although he did admit some sorrow at an Irish campaign which was halted in mid flow because of the foot and mouth outbreak in Britain last spring.

"It was comfortably our best performance in the competition," admitted the Scotland chief. "We were good value for our win because we managed to create momentum in our play.

"I was worried there might be a lot of mistakes because we had this one game in isolation but we didn't overcomplicate things and I thought we played intelligently.

"Gregor Townsend was positive with the ball in hand and made very few errors.

"He was also powerful in defence, which he is rarely given credit for.

"We put pressure on Ireland from most areas of the field and I am delighted with the overall outcome."