O'Connell twisted his left knee and sustained medial ligament damage which is expected to keep him out for six weeks while Murray is out for three weeks after he suffered knee joint bruising and was stretchered off in Ireland's 17-17 draw with France.

Connacht’s Mike McCarthy and Munster scrum-half Tomas O'Leary have come into the Irish squad as cover while hooker Rory Best is expected to take over captaincy duties for the upcoming visit of Scotland to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

The injuries capped a thoroughly miserable day for Ireland who missed out on the opportunity to win in Paris for the second time since 1972 and lay their French hoodoo to rest as France scored 11 unanswered points in the second half.

Coupled with their last-gasp defeat to Wales, the Irish have let two victories slip through their fingers late on but full-back Rob Kearney insists it would be wrong to dwell on the past and is looking for a response against the Scots who beat them in the same fixture two years ago.

“It won't be difficult to pick ourselves up because you can't afford to be like that. If you don't stop crying and move on, you lose again and things snowball,” said the full-back.

“Sometimes after a game like that the perfect medicine is to get out again. We're lucky to be back in Dublin in front of our own fans. We need to get a win.

"Scotland are a good team and like ourselves they've had a couple of unlucky games. It will be a massive match.