Ireland fly-half Sam Prendergast’s comments after the game told their own story.
“It wasn’t perfect from us,” he said. “But it was better than last week and we’ll keep trying to get better week on week.”
Prendergast is a relative newcomer on the international stage – the 21-year-old only made his Test debut in November, but bossed it at Murrayfield, kicking magnificently both off the tee and out of hand.
The fact Ireland cruised to victory yet their young fly-half felt there was room to improvement shows how far ahead Ireland are.
It was only a late try from scrum-half Ben White that made the scoreboard respectable for Scotland, with the 14-point margin perhaps flattering the hosts.
“If you’re looking for a formula of how to win away in the Six Nations, you should study that,” Ronan O’Gara – another Irish Grand Slam winner – said on BBC One.
“It was ruthless from minute one. Total domination. Normally in a Test match, the lead changes hands a couple of times and it’s in the balance.
“Today the biggest surprise is that it finished 32-18. It felt like a 40-point victory and maybe if Ireland need to, I think they’ve another couple of gears to go.”
And it wasn’t just Irish pundits critical of Scotland’s performance and application.
Martin Johnson lifted a World Cup as England captain. He knows what it takes to win, and in his opinion, Townsend’s side never gave themselves a chance.
“Scotland didn’t have any attitude in the first half,” he said on BBC One. “It was like they didn’t think they could win the game.
“They made mistakes and made it too easy for Ireland. That scoreline flatters Scotland.”
