After just a six-day turnaround, a battered and bruised Ireland squad must prepare themselves for the somewhat underwhelming prospect of hosting the Scots.

It’s easy to motivate yourself for a trip to Paris where your record in recent years has been abysmal. Equally a St. Patrick’s Day fixture against the old enemy in Twickenham is inevitably going to stir passions and get players' adrenaline flowing.

But a home game against wooden spoon contenders Scotland on the back of a rather hollow result in Paris allows scope for complacency, the kind of complacency which has allowed Scotland win two of the previous three encounters.

Desperate to avoid the wooden spoon, a well-rested Scotland will be brimming with aggression when they take to the field tomorrow and will believe that they can make it two Six Nations wins in a row in Dublin.

The lineout was the one area Ireland where expected to have the ascendancy over France last weekend, it was one of the main reasons Saint-André opted for Bonnaire over Picamoles, to disrupt what they expected to be Ireland’s most effective weapon.

But the lines of communication seemed to breakdown in the Irish pack enabling the French to steal three of Ireland’s eight throws.

By way of contrast Scotland boast a staggering 100% record in the lineout so far in this year’s tournament having secured all of their 33 throws to date.

With a colossal second-row pairing in 6’8” Jim Hamilton and 6’10” Richie Gray as well as former Lion Ross Forde skippering the team from hooker, Scotland’s lineout is right up there with the South African’s at the peak of the international stage.

Having seen Ireland’s failings in this department in the Stade de France Scotland were always going to target the lineout, but the absence of Paul O’Connell has handed further impetus to Andy Robinson’s team.

However, that only scratches the surface of what it means to lose the big lock. O’Connell embodies everything that a leader should be.

An obvious asset at restart and lineout time, he also gets through an astounding amount of work in the loose both with ball in hand and in defence.

His absence means this Irish team are missing two world class captains. Not only are O’Connell and Brian O’Driscoll outstanding talents, their ability to lead by example has earned both the honour of skippering the British and Irish Lions.

It also means Donnacha Ryan finally gets his chance in the starting XV. Unfortunately for the Tipperary man he will be playing in place of his Munster lock partner instead of operating alongside him.

O’Connell’s omission places a heavy burden on Donncha O’Callaghan’s shoulders. He is the one who has remained in the team on reputation rather than form and if Ryan forces his way into the starting XV on a permanent basis, it will be in place of O’Callaghan.

Furthermore, he is the one with the experience at this level, 83 caps to Ryan’s 16. If the lineout is where Ireland are going to come under siege O’Callaghan must step up and prove he has more to offer than experience.

Of the three enforced changes, which no doubt scuppered Kidney’s plans to name yet another unchanged team, O’Mahony’s inclusion is by far the most exciting going into tomorrow’s showdown.

O’Mahony has followed the example set by Munster teammate Conor Murray in catapulting himself into senior squads for both province and country in the one season.

We will undoubtedly see O’Mahony’s customary aggression and tireless work ethic, what remains unknown is whether he will be at his most effective wearing the number seven jersey.

Moulding O’Mahony into an openside makes perfect sense from an Irish perspective, as the squad currently lacks an out-and-out seven. His credentials boast experience in all positions in the backrow, however he has looked most at home at blindside flanker this season.

But he has the raw talent, the versatility and the skill set to make an openside, as he proved himself in an outstanding performance at seven for Munster in their memorable victory over Northampton Saints at Stadium:mk in January.

"Small margins" has become one of the phrases to enter the lexicon of popular sporting clichés and for Ireland the 2012 Six Nations has been a competition where the small margins have not fallen in their favour.

A rusty opening performance against Wales would have produced a confidence boosting win had Wayne Barnes not wrongly penalised Stephen Ferris for a dangerous tackle in the last minute presenting Leigh Halfpenny with the chance to snatch victory.

The one try France managed last weekend came down to the bounce of a ball from a loose pass at the base of a ruck which invited Ireland to lose their defensive shape. Instead of hopping up into the arms of Keith Earls the ball chose Wesley Fofana who benefited from a fragmented Irish defence and just about overcame the challenge of Rob Kearney.

But Halfpenny would never have gotten that penalty had Ireland not allowed Wales to saunter from their own 22 to within goal kicking range and Fofana’s try should have been little more than a footnote after taking a 17-6 lead into the break against France.

Three games into the Championship Ireland are still looking for a complete 80-minute performance. Even the win over Italy was a lopsided showing, were it not for a last minute try the teams would have been level at the changeover and it would have been a more accurate reflection of the opening half.

Scotland will believe they can enjoy periods of dominance and with speedsters like Hogg and Jones decorating the backline they have firepower behind the scrum.

If Laidlaw and company are as loose with their kicking game as they were against the French however, they will be inviting counter-attacks from Ireland’s back three, not something Robinson will want to see given the form of Bowe and Kearney of late.

This Irish team are better than Scotland, but that was also true in 2010. What Scotland lack in flare they make up for in spirit and doggedness and Ireland must be ready for the fight.

Prediction: Ireland to win by twelve.