Scotland captain Stuart Hogg apologised to players and staff for discipline breach
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Scotland captain Stuart Hogg is knocked into touch by Hugo Keenan with the score at 14-5
Scotland captain Stuart Hogg says he apologised to staff and players after he and five others were disciplined for visiting a bar after the Six Nations win against Italy last week.
Hogg, Finn Russell, Ali Price, Darcy Graham and Sam Johnson broke team protocols but featured as Scotland finished with a 26-5 defeat by Ireland.
Sione Tuipolotu was also involved but did not play in Dublin.
"We held our hands up, we knew we made a mistake," Hogg said.
"It was a challenging week but we had one of our best weeks of preparation, we really stuck together and got on with our jobs.
"It had a massive effect on how we started this game. Unfortunately, we never backed it up in the second half.
"I know I made a mistake. As leader of this side I'm bitterly disappointed with what happened. I was annoyed, I was frustrated. But I can't go back and change anything."
Asked to clarify the events after the Italy game, Hogg replied: "What's out there is out there. For us, we'll just keep everything we want to remain in house."
The defeat in Dublin means Scotland end the championship with wins against England and Italy and losses to Wales, France, and Ireland.
Ireland put in a powerful performance and led 14-5 at the break, and added a further two scores without reply in the second half as Scotland conceded 15 penalties over the 80 minutes.
Scotland managed three wins from five in the last two Six Nations championships, and will finish fourth for the third successive season.
Head coach Gregor Townsend said he was "delighted" with the reaction of his players after the controversy off the pitch in the build-up to their final game.
"What happened on Sunday was disappointing and so was today's result," he said.
"But in groups, in families you can have these moments and you can choose to come together and learn from it, and I believe that's what the team did this week with the way they trained. They fronted up today.
The Scotland coach added: "It's a private matter, [there were] private discussions. And the decision was made within the group, anything on the back of that is just gossip.
"We move on. We dealt with it in house and we had our best training week of the championship. As Stuart mentioned, he apologised to the group so that's all I'm going to say on it."
This was Townsend's fifth Six Nations, with his best finish third place at the first attempt.
"A lot of teams are improving round us and you have to be very good to beat them," he said.
"I thought that was some of our best rugby in the championship. It doesn't change the scoreline or our assessment of the tournament. That was certainly the best we've attacked and defended in terms of our tackles, but if you're not accurate when you have teams under pressure, then teams are going to have you under pressure. Especially a side like Ireland.
"We have to accept that and we know we will have to be a lot better the next time we play in this championship."
