Six Nations: Set-pieces let Scotland down in defeat by Ireland - Andy Nicol
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Six Nations 2021: Scotland 24-27 Ireland highlights
Scotland have regressed and must now show their Six Nations win over England was "not a blip", former scrum-half Andy Nicol suggests.
Sunday's 27-24 defeat by Ireland means Gregor Townsend's side have followed a fine win over England at Twickenham with two home losses.
"After such a promising start to the Six Nations, it's just been a deeply frustrating last month," Nicol says.
"What went wrong in the last two games is what went right down at Twickenham."
Losing six out of eight lineouts was viewed as key by Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend and pundits alike.
"The set-pieces were exemplary, the discipline was outstanding at Twickenham - it's a shame how it's just dropped off," Nicol tells BBC Sport.
"They let themselves down a lot there. Set-piece discipline was really poor."
Scotland clawed their way back from 24-10 down to level the scores until another mistake in defence allowed Johnny Sexton the chance to kick the winning penalty with minutes remaining.
"Quite a strange game - it didn't do much good for my blood pressure," Nicol says. "Disappointed that Scotland couldn't find a way back in to win that game.
"Even when we got back to 24-all, because of what had happened in the previous 75 minutes, I just thought there would be a mistake or a lack of discipline and unfortunately that's exactly what happened."
Scotland can no longer win the Six Nations this season but still have games against Italy and France to come.
"All the games here are big games, but Italy can be used as a confidence booster for Scotland," Nicol suggests. "It's odd - when we beat England away from home, we were all thinking maybe even praying that it might be a more positive outcome, but sadly here we are back to where we've been in the last 8-10 years.
"There's still a chance to show that Twickenham game wasn't a blip and I think that's important for this squad."