| At Murrayfield the Irish overcame the loss of injured duo Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy and a strong opening from their hosts to finally sweep Scotland aside 40-13. Leinster's Malcom O'Kelly celebrated his record 70th cap by grabbing one of his side's five tries.
Paul O'Connell, Denis Hickie, John Hayes and Gavin Duffy, on his debut, also crossed for five-pointers as Matt William's Scotland side were punished for their errors. Munster flyhalf Ronan O'Gara weighed in with 13 points with the boot.
Scotland had begun promisingly with Hugo Southwell opening the scoring, but their challenge fell away although Jon Petrie was able to add another try.
Meanwhile in Rome, Wales crushed Italy 38-8 with Cardiff Blues' Martyn Williams notching one of his team's six tries in a Man of the Match performance at the Stadio Flaminio.
Jonathan Thomas, Tom Shanklin, Brent Cockbain, Shane Williams and Robert Sidoli also heaped woe on the Azzurri by dotting down. Stephen Jones converted four of their efforts.
Ireland now sit atop of the RBS Six Nations table followed by Wales while Scotland must now focus on what will surely be the Wooden Spoon decider against Italy in two weeks time.
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