Andy Farrell joked Ireland may have to borrow players from a local side's Under-12s to face England after losing five more to injury in their Six Nations victory over Scotland.
Ireland claimed a well-earned 22-7 victory at Murrayfield on Sunday to take their Grand Slam hopes down to next weekend's final game against England.
Farrell's men have now won seven matches in a row in the competition – their joint-best ever run – but their latest victory may have come at a cost.
The visitors lost three of their starting forward pack inside the first 25 minutes, with Caelan Doris, Dan Sheehan and Iain Henderson making way.
Replacement hooker Ronan Kelleher was next to exit the field, leaving prop Cian Healy at hooker and flanker Josh van der Flier the lineout thrower
Garry Ringrose then sustained a serious-looking head injury late on, potentially leaving Farrell with a major selection problem for the visit of England in six days' time.
"We'll go again. We'll have a good squad," Farrell told BBC Sport. "If we get any more injuries in the week we might have to have a look at Old Belvedere Under-12s!
"We'll lick our wounds and go again. England will be dangerous, but it'll be one hell of a weekend on St Patrick's Day."
There was little between the sides after a tense first half in which Mack Hansen cancelled out Huw Jones' try, with that the Scotland centre's tournament-high fourth of 2023.
Ireland's quality eventually told, though, as James Lowe crossed over with 56 minutes played and Jack Conan powered over to put the game out of the home side's reach.
"It was an amazing Test match," Farrell said. "There was a bit of organised chaos at half-time, but everyone had a smile on their face.
"We didn't get the try early on, then lost Caelan. It's a monumental effort, but that's what these boys expect of each other. They've earned the right to take it to the last weekend.
"The lads can do anything at this moment in time. How we looked after each other was the most impressive thing."
Scotland would have had a second try in the first period if not for a superb Hugo Keenan challenge to stop Duhan van der Merwe from reaching the line.
Just one point separated Scotland and Ireland at half-time for the seventh time in nine Tests at Murrayfield, but Ireland found a way to make it six wins in a row in this fixture.
Johnny Sexton, who kicked seven points to draw level with compatriot Ronan O'Gara in the all-time list of Six Nations points scorers, is proud of the way his side dug in.
"It was an incredibly tough game," he told BBC Sport. "Anytime you come to Murrayfield you know you're in a Test match. That was one of the toughest first halves I've played.
"We knew it would be tough, and we're delighted to come away with the win. Now we've got to get the bodies back together.
"We'll be playing against an English team that are hurting and one that we have huge respect for. The Irish people will get behind us next week, so we're looking forward to that."
A second defeat in a row for Scotland brings and end to their campaign, and head coach Gregor Townsend accepts Ireland were the better side over the 80 minutes.
"I'd rather talk about the first half than the second half, because the second half was disappointing," he said. "We created chances in that first half.
"It was a real high energy performance – what you'd call a proper Test match. Both teams were a little fatigued at the start of the second half, it was there for us to lift the energy.
"We didn't; we weren't accurate enough. Ireland grew in confidence and were clearly the better team in the second half. We're disappointed with the fact we didn't kick on.
"What we wanted today was a complete, 80-minute performance. We only got it for 40. We know we'll have to play well next week. Italy come here with nothing to lose."
Ronaldo: 'You cannot rebuild Man United without knowledge'
Cristiano Ronaldo believes Manchester United "cannot rebuild without knowledge" as he urged Erik ten Hag to take advice from assistant coach - and former Red Devils striker - Ruud van Nistelrooy.
United opened the Premier League season with a 1-0 win over Fulham, but then suffered back-to-back defeats against Brighton and Hove Albion and Liverpool.
It is the second time under Ten Hag the Red Devils have lost as many as two of their first three league games in a season (also 2022-23); as many times as in their previous 29 campaigns combined.
United have also scored three goals fewer than their xG suggests they should have so far this term (two goals, 5.2 xG), the biggest such difference for any team in the Premier League.
Ten Hag was recently joined in the dugout by compatriot Van Nistelrooy, who scored 150 in 219 appearances at Old Trafford between 2001 and 2006.
And Ronaldo - the scorer of 145 in 346 games across his two spells - thinks the Red Devils will benefit from the wisdom of people with prior experience and knowledge of the club.
"[As the] Man United manager; you cannot say that you're not going to fight to win the Premier League or Champions League," he told former team-mate Rio Ferdinand on FiveUK.
"You've to say: 'maybe we've not got the potential, but we're going to try'. You have to try!
"If Ten Hag listens to Ruud van Nistelrooy, maybe he can help. He knows the club and the club should listen to the guys who were there [like] Rio, Roy Keane, [Paul] Scholes, Gary Neville, Alex Ferguson. You cannot rebuild a club without knowledge."
United return to action this weekend away at pointless Southampton, against whom they are unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League visits since a 1-0 defeat in August 2003.
The Red Devils have also lost just one of their last 30 Premier League matches against promoted sides, winning 15 of their last 17 such games.
Clarke believes Scotland 'deserved something' following defeat to Portugal
Scotland boss Steve Clarke has declared that his side "deserved something" from their Nations League clash with Portugal after losing 2-1 thanks to a late Cristiano Ronaldo goal.
Scott McTominay gave Scotland an early lead after seven minutes, but Portugal fought back through goals from Bruno Fernandes and Ronaldo to take all three points in Group A1.
Ronaldo's goal came in the 88th minute and was his 901st career goal.
It leaves Scotland on their longest-ever winless run as they remain without a win in their last eight competitive games in all competitions, but Clarke feels they should not have left Lisbon empty-handed.
"I'm disappointed to lose a game where it looked, for a large period, we would get something from it," he told the BBC.
"I'm really disappointed for my players because I think they deserved to get something from the game.
"If you ignore the results, [there are a lot of positives], but we're professional, so it's disappointing.
"We played well in these two games, but we don't have anything to show for it. I've told the players not to be too hard on themselves. They have to understand the work that we're doing."
Scotland did well to prevent Portugal from getting any further sight at goal, defending a total of 26 shots during the match with seven ending up on target.
The 16 shots the Scots had to defend in the opening 45 minutes were the most they have faced in a first-half since October 2012 when Belgium also let loose 16 efforts.
"With the amount of balls that go into the box, you know one of them can go in the back of the net and that's what happened to us," added Clarke.
"When you bring quality players from the bench like Roberto [Martinez] can do, you always know there's a risk, but I felt we handled it well.
"We'll go away and analyse these games, and hopefully, we can give the lads a few pointers for the games next month, which don't get any easier."
Gamechanger Ronaldo was brought on at half-time by Portugal manager Roberto Martinez, a move that was well thought through and had the desired effect.
"Ronaldo did 17 sprints against Croatia. He is the player who made the most sprints. So we need to protect the players. One more game in 72 hours is impossible to have a physical performance [equal]," Martinez explained.
"The question was whether Ronaldo played the first half and left or came in and finished the game. That was the decision.
"He is an asset to the national team. When he comes in, if the [team] needs goals, Cris gives energy and a feeling to the fans. The stadium is different.
"If Cris leaves, it's the opposite and facilitates what the opponent would like to do when playing away from home in Portugal."
Portugal 2-1 Scotland: Ronaldo's late heroics seal comeback win
Cristiano Ronaldo came off the bench to score the winner as Portugal earned a 2-1 victory, condemning Scotland to another late defeat.
The 39-year-old, who started on the bench in a competitive match for the first time since the 2022 World Cup, added to Bruno Fernandes' strike after Scott McTominay had given Scotland the lead early on.
The home crowd were just as stunned as Portugal's defence when McTominay snuck in behind, thumping Kenny McLean's cross past a stranded Diogo Costa after just seven minutes.
The hosts certainly had their chances to get back into the game though – Angus Gunn made a brilliant save to deny Rafael Leao, who also fired a number of efforts wide of the left post.
Though Scotland tried to continue soaking up the pressure, their defence was eventually breached nine minutes after the break, with Fernandes marking his 30th birthday with a sweeping finish from 20 yards out.
Gunn smothered Joao Felix's low shot in the 78th minute before Ronaldo came within millimetres of a winner as his header hit the inside of the far post.
But Ronaldo would have the final say as he stretched out a leg in the six-yard box to turn Nuno Mendes' cross into the back of the net.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo the hero once again
Steve Clarke could not have asked for more from his team in the first half, as they scored with their only effort, but also resolutely defended as Portugal racked up 16 shots (three on target), creating 1.21 expected goals (xG).
It was a regular creator that got the Selecao back on level terms though, as Fernandes got his 21st goal involvement under Roberto Martinez in all competitions, at least five more than any other Portugal player (11 goals, 10 assists).
And Ronaldo is now up to 901 career goals, with only Aleksandar Mitrovic (14), Erling Haaland (12) and Romelu Lukaku (10) bettering his nine-goal tally in the Nations League.
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