The defeat means the Irish had to settle for second place overall in the table with France – who beat England 12-10 - crowned champions.

And Kidney was less than impressed with his side’s efforts.

"Scotland played well and we didn't play to the best of our ability so it was not to be our day," said Kidney.

"Our performance wasn't great - we made errors and didn't execute some of our moves in the way that we should.

"We knew that Scotland would not roll over - I said that any team can beat any other side in this competition."