Conditions just got too difficult for the players and they couldn't cope with it.

As a proud and passionate Scot this is the ultimate honour and one that I am determined to enjoy,

I've long held the view that we have to best harness what we have by attacking in different ways. In the past, Scotland have had a restricted attacking strategy. They have not used all the possible areas of attack open to them. Wide, close, through the middle, through the boot - there are many options. You have to unsettle the opposition.

We targeted the Llanelli line-out and it was especially pleasing to see Scott and Ally Kellock come up trumps.

We believe we have a very good chance of winning this weekend. What's important to me is that the many thousands of Scots' fans traveling to Dublin do so not just in hope but with a genuine expectation of us doing something special again.

I never really saw us winning the championship, but I think we've done enough this year to convince people that we are a good side and there will be a lot of teams that won't relish the prospect of playing us in future.