It was a spirited start by Scotland at Meggetland – but it was the Irish girls who went home with a comfortable 23-0 victory.

The defeat was a real body blow to the Scots as it has ruled out automatic qualification for the 2010 World Cup in England. The team will now have to try and qualify through the FIRA Championships.

Scotland’s only win in the Six Nations has come against Italy (the same as the men) – and the final match on March 21 is a real toughie against England in London.

Against Ireland, slip-ups from the home side in the first half saw the visitors go ahead 0-6 after giving away two penalties, both converted by Niamh Briggs.

Scotland’s backs did well in defence, but Briggs managed a great solo break and scored a try before half-time.

Half time: 0-11

Early in the second half, a break from 30m out by Tania Rosser saw the Irish add another try, successfully converted by Briggs.

As the wind picked up, both sides began to find the conditions more challenging, and Scotland worked up some good line breaks which, unfortunately, came to nothing and Ireland’s Lynn Cantwell grabbed another try close to the end of the match.

Afterward, Head Coach Jamie Dempsey said: “Credit to the Irish who thoroughly deserved their victory. And credit to our team for the way they defended – all the players worked their socks off for each other.

“It’s a shame the scoreline doesn’t really reflect that, on our day, we can beat Ireland. It would have been nice to have had a bit more of the ball, to have shown what we can really do.”