Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan has told his team they must learn from their Murrayfield mistakes if they are to break an 18-year cycle of Edinburgh woe in this weekend's RBS 6 Nations opener in Scotland.

O'Sullivan admits it is impossible to escape the fact Ireland have not won in Edinburgh since 1985 - especially because their last visit there resulted in probably the worst performance of all.

As Ireland prepared for Sunday's match at Murrayfield, O'Sullivan was forced to dwell on the last game in Edinburgh when the Irish suffered an embarrassing defeat.

O'Sullivan said: "The scorelines have been horrendous recently so it's something we're well aware of.

"Quite a few of the current squad were involved the last time and it was a pretty harrowing experience for them.

"If you look back at the video, which we have done, our lineout misfired really badly and we didn't get across the gain line, even from any primary possession we got.

"If that happens in any game it's a huge problem. You've got to secure primary possession and get over the gain line. Scotland successfully denied us those basic principles of our performance.

"So it's certainly an issue that Irish teams have gone to Murrayfield and consistently under-performed. We're pretty adamant it's not going to happen to us.

"The focal point for Sunday is that we need to perform, in the physicality stakes and the mental toughness stakes. That's where Scotland will take us on and if we don't front up in those areas it won't be a game of rugby, just as it wasn't the last time.

"Every Irish coach has gone there with high hopes, so here's hoping it's this time."

Added to the pressure on O'Sullivan to deliver what so many of his predecessors have failed to do is the fact that though the fixture is the opening match, it is pivotal to the entire campaign.

"I wouldn't agree it was a sink or swim situation," he said. "But it is a very important game in the overall context of the 6 Nations.

"A win for us would obviously get us off to a good start and be a bit of a landmark with a win at Murrayfield. A loss would mean going back and circling the wagons to try and get a result in Italy the week after.

"This tournament is all about momentum and with two away games for us it's a very important start.

"It's hard to win away in the 6 Nations but if we could achieve that in our first two games it would generate a lot of momentum for us for the rest of the championship."