After the crushing comeback from France last weekend that culminated in a 17-17 draw, Kidney was looking for a response against the winless Scots and he got it with tries from stand-in skipper Rory Best, Eoin Reddan, Andrew Trimble and Fergus McFadden.

The 52-year-old was especially pleased with the ambition of his troops but reserved special praise for Andy Robinson’s side, who have now lost their opening four games with just Italy left to play.

"I am delighted for the players after everything that has been thrown at them in the last six days. You can look at the TMO one, but we will take the four tries and move on,” he said.

“We did not panic in the second half. There were times we tried things when maybe the safest thing would have been to kick into the corner but you cannot knock ambition and that is the way we want to play.

"It was a very good performance and result. We knew it was going to have to be. There's no doubt the Scots' results don't reflect their performances. They are a very good team and we knew we'd have to play well to beat them.

"To score 32 points against this Scottish team, we'll take a lot of confidence into next week.”

Next up is the small matter of a trip to Twickenham on St. Patrick’s Day and the former Munster coach knows they must end their RBS 6 Nations campaign on a high.

Ireland’s opening weekend loss to Wales has put an end to their Championship hopes but Kidney declared there’s more than pride up for grabs whenever they face the Red Rose.

He added: "We will enjoy tonight but will not get carried away because we know we have to be in Twickenham on St Patrick's Day.

“They are playing really well for one another and like all English sides at Twickenham, they will be a force.

"I think they have been knocking on the door in most of their matches and come up with a few good results."