Keenan: Scotland game a shot at redemption

After living with the pain of World Cup defeat for almost four months, Hugo Keenan is glad Ireland get a quick shot at redemption next Saturday.

Heavy favourites coming into the game, Andy Farrell's side went down 23-22 to England with Marcus Smith's late dropgoal sealing their first win over Ireland in five attempts.

With Grand Slam dreams dashed, the defending champions will now turn their focus to Scotland knowing any sort of victory will clinch a sixth Guinness Six Nations crown.

Their most recent loss prior to Saturday came at the quarter-final stage in France when New Zealand edged a thriller 28-24 and it felt like a knock-out punch for many of the players.

However, this round-four defeat gives them the opportunity to end the campaign on a high with the triple crown-chasing Scots arriving to Dublin the day before St Patrick's Day.

"The beauty in this one is that we have got a shot of redemption, it wasn't a final [against England] although you are nearly treating it like one," said Keenan, who had to play most of the game on the wing after an early injury to Calvin Nash.

"We have got an opportunity to bounce back and to do it at home in front of our fans, our families or friends, and our brilliant support.

"That's a lucky opportunity and a privilege to have and it is one that probably we haven't had too many opportunities to do in the past so I think we are all going to have to dust ourselves down and get excited and I am sure we will.

"It will be a tough week but I think we will be ready for it and looking forward to it.

"That's the challenge, that is the beauty of the competition, you lose a game but you can win the tournament still. I think you have to, I suppose, take learnings from previous losses, take learnings from