Fast start set the tone for Ireland's win in Edinburgh

In the first two games of their Guinness Six Nations title defence, Ireland have shown an ability to win in different ways.

The opening victory against England their bench reinforcements powered them home in the second half after what had been a slow and messy first 40 minutes.

Yesterday at Murrayfield it was a different story, as they came out hot with a 17-0 lead which they comfortably managed for a second bonus-point win to start their title defence.

"We had spoken about a fast start and I think we did that pretty well scoring within the first ten minutes and applying quite a bit of pressure," Ireland captain Caelan Doris, scorer of the second try on 30 minutes, said.

"Tries don't come too frequently for me. I think it's only my second in the Six Nations so yeah, it was a nice moment.

"When you get up a couple of scores, it's very enjoyable. It’s enjoyable to be part of this group in general. The lads love representing the group, love representing the country. It was a very enjoyable one today."

The Ireland captain’s try made it 17-0 with half an hour played, but such was their dominance of the first half, that scoreline flattered a Scottish team who barely laid a glove on the visitors in the opening 30 minutes.

Between Calvin Nash and Doris’s tries, Ireland were twice held up over the line by a scrambling Scottish defence, while the hosts were also reduced to 14 men for 10 minutes when Duhan van der Merwe was yellow-carded.

Doris was one of those held up over the line, shortly after Rónan Kelleher was stopped at the end of a rolling maul. But the Leinster number 8 believes his side drew on their experience at Murrayfield two years ago when they stayed composed despite a plethora of injuries.

"Backing what we do [was the