Highlights - Scotland 18-21 Ireland

Gordon D'Arcy insists Ireland only have themselves to blame for the indiscipline which has dogged their Six Nations campaign so far.

After Ireland appeared in control, Scotland, boosted by a series of penalties, fought back to trail 21-18 in Sunday's clash at Murrayfield.

Indeed, the Scots had enough ball in the closing stages to win the game.

"We can't make excuses for giving away penalties, we've got to be harder on ourselves," said centre D'Arcy.

"It's a little bit disappointing the game turned out the way it did because we scored three tries to nil, but penalties kept them in it," said the Lions centre.

"You have six minutes of build-up play progressing nicely into their 22, then one penalty undoes all that positive play.

"You get angry with yourself because you're undoing all your good work in a moment with silly penalties."

Hammered 13-4 on the penalty count by referee Nigel Owens, Ireland almost threw away a mess of a contest they should have won comfortably.

D'Arcy is tackled by Nick de Luca in Sunday's game at Murrayfield

Post-match inquisitions have now become the norm as Ireland lurch from one crisis to another, though indiscipline has replaced the error-count as the source of their angst as the Irish repeatedly offended at the breakdown.

"It's been hard to get the flow of the breakdown because Scotland went completely differently to the previous two games," added D'Arcy.

"You like to have consistency, but we won't hide behind that because you must be able to adapt to referees on the day.

"The best teams do that and nobody in the Irish camp will be complaining too much about the decisions. We're the architects of our own penalties.

"We do research on the referees and know what he likes and doesn't like.

"Everyone playing against Scotland has had Nigel Owens before. We know what his pet peeves are, what he likes and what he doesn't like."

Despite Ireland's struggles, D'Arcy insists that that the situation is "rectifiable".

"It's not rocket science. In previous years we were the most disciplined team in the world but scored just one try, yet won by the same margin.

There's nothing we can do about the championship but there's a Triple Crown on the cards Gordon D'Arcy

"Composure was a big thing against Scotland because nobody panicked.

"When it mattered there were no penalties, no infringements, so that begs the question why did we didn't do that for the other 70 minutes?"

But for a little more composure against France, Ireland could have been locked on course for a 19 March Grand Slam decider against England at the Aviva Stadium.

A poor points difference effectively ends Ireland's own title hopes, but D'Arcy insists there is plenty left to play for.

"For us it's about winning two more games and whatever happens, happens. We can't control what other teams do," he said.

"Look how dangerous Wales were at times against Italy, but also look how fragile they were when they were attacked.

"Knowing what happens when you attack them will give us impetus. We've shown we can attack.

"It will all come down to the English game. There's nothing we can do about the championship, but there's a Triple Crown on the cards."

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