Teenager Gavi’s solitary goal was enough for Spain to secure their Euro 2024 qualification with a 1-0 victory over Norway.

The 19-year-old midfielder scored his fifth international goal in his last 25 matches to put the 2008 and 2012 champions through, while also ending Norway’s hopes with Scotland the major beneficiaries of the result as they too qualified.

Georgia’s earlier 4-0 win over Cyprus had kept alive their slim hopes of staying in contention in Group A but Spain’s result ended that prospect.

Turkey qualified from Group D after a resounding 4-0 win over Latvia, with former Everton striker Cenk Tosun scoring two late goals.

However, Croatia slipped below Wales into third after Mario Pasalic’s 75th-minute goal was not enough to spark the comeback needed after Harry Wilson scored either side of half-time.

West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek’s 76th-minute penalty was enough for the Czech Republic to beat the Faroe Islands 1-0 in Group E.

But the group is still in the balance as Poland’s 1-1 draw at home to Moldova – Karol Swiderski cancelling out Ion Nicolaescu’s opener – kept them in in touch in third and fourth respectively.

Belarus’ hopes of finishing in the top two in Group I were ended after Switzerland scored twice in the last two minutes of normal time to snatch a 3-3 draw.

Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji and Burnley’s Zeki Amdouni both struck late on for the Swiss, who had taken a 28th-minute lead through Xherdan Shaqiri, to maintain their unbeaten record after Max Ebong, Denis Polyakov and Dmitri Antilevski appeared to have done enough to keep Belarus in the hunt.

Romania went top with a 4-0 victory over Andorra in which Alaves’ on-loan Rangers winger Ianis Hagi was on target.

Scotland have qualified for Euro 2024 after Norway were beaten 1-0 by Spain in Oslo.

The result meant Steve Clarke’s men were guaranteed a top-two finish in Group A with two games to spare.

A Norway victory would have meant Scotland needed a point from their remaining matches, in Georgia and at home to Norway, next month.

But a second-half goal from Spain’s Gavi meant the Scots were mathematically certain to be at next year’s championships in Germany.

Spain, who beat Scotland 2-0 in Seville on Thursday to avenge their defeat by the same scoreline at Hampden Park in March, also made sure of their qualification a they moved top the group on goal difference.

They have two matches remaining, against minnows Cyprus and Georgia.

Scotland could qualify for the 2024 European Championship when Norway host Spain in Oslo on Sunday night and unsurprisingly Erling Haaland is a central figure in the fixture.

Steve Clarke’s side lost 2-0 to La Roja in Seville on Thursday night and their first defeat after five Group A wins left them three points ahead of Luis de la Fuente’s men, having played a game more.

Scotland face France in a friendly in Lille on Tuesday night but in essence, if Norway fail to beat Spain then the Scots will be appearing at their second successive Euros, while there are two fixtures next month, Georgia away and Norway at Hampden Park, which offer opportunities to clinch qualification.

Norway, who lost 2-1 at home to the Scots in June with Haaland scoring from the penalty spot, beat Cyprus 4-0 in Larnaca on Thursday with the Manchester City superstar scoring a double to make it 27 goals in 27 appearances for his national team.

De la Fuente was quoted in Marca.com praising his defence as they prepare to come up against the Norwegian goal machine.

He said: “We will look for the best version of all, with concentration to try to stop the attacks of Norway.

“We know the importance of Haaland, but he is not the only one. There is no Haaland plan. Haaland is a dynamic attacking specialist, but I’m delighted with the work of my centre-backs.

“We will try to counteract those characteristics, not only Haaland, and we will try to minimise the talent of these players. In defence, against Scotland and Norway, we have dominated the situation.”

The only blip in the qualifying campaign for Spain, this summer’s Nations League winners, was the 2-0 defeat at Hampden Park in March and they will qualify for Germany with a win in Oslo.

Norway have no margin for error in their quest to reach Euro 2024 and coach Stale Solbakken was quoted in marca.com as acknowledging the difficulty of the task they face.

He said: “Yes, the situation of the group for us is a disappointment. Why? It’s as simple as the fact that our situation is extremely difficult to be in the European Championship.”

Looking back at lessons from the defeat in Malaga, he said: “We learned that we can play, create chances, be alive for 81 minutes.

“Spain is always one of the best, always with the ball and in aggressiveness when they don’t have it.”

Angus Gunn insists Scotland still have eyes on topping their group after the 2-0 defeat by Spain on Thursday night delayed Euro 2024 qualification.

After winning their first five qualifiers, including a 2-0 win over the Spanish at Hampden Park in March, the Scots came up short in Seville after a controversial VAR call ruled out Scott McTominay’s terrific free-kick just before the hour mark.

Dutch referee Serdar Gozubuyuk was sent to check his pitchside monitor and he ruled an infringement by Scotland defender Jack Hendry, with some confusion as to whether it was for a foul on goalkeeper Unai Simon or offside.

Alvaro Morata headed in after 73 minutes and substitute Oihan Sancet, making his debut, added a second with four minutes or normal time remaining to leave Steve Clarke’s men three points ahead of La Roja at the top of Group A having played a game more.

Scotland face France in a friendly in Lille next Tuesday while Spain take on third-placed Norway in Oslo two days earlier and if the Norwegians drop points, Scotland’s place in Germany next summer will be secured before games away at Georgia and home to Norway in November.

Norwich keeper Gunn, 27, remains confident and he said: “We have put ourselves in an unbelievable position.

“From our point of view we have done a lot of the hard work early on in the group and we want to finish it off in the right way.

“We want to top the group as well so we have two more games and it might happen on Sunday but even if it does, we go away to Georgia and still try to win this group.

“I will probably watch it on Sunday. If it happens, it happens but we still have two more games.

“We have put ourselves in a good position and if it does happen on Sunday we deserve it.”

The Scots had put up a sturdy defensive display against this summer’s Nations League winners and it looked like they might be on their way to a smash-and-grab win when McTominay’s free-kick from near the byline flew into the net.

Gunn believes the decision to rule it out lifted the Spanish fans and gave the home side the boost to go on and clinch the three points.

He said: “We thought we went ahead and that was an unbelievable feeling at the time and it was gutting when it got chalked off.

“I thought we dealt with it quite well but I think it gave them more of a boost.

“Their crowd celebrated it like a goal and I think they got their tails up a little but which we had to deal with.

“I think we kept our emotions quite well even though there wasn’t much clarity around the decision, that was the most disappointing thing.

“But they are a top team and they went up the other end and scored and after that the momentum was with them.

“We are disappointed with the result.

“But I said, we put ourselves in the position where we are still top of the group, still looking strong and hopefully still able to qualify soon.”

John McGinn insists there is more to come from Scotland as they sit on the cusp of qualifying for a second successive European Championship.

Steve Clarke’s men have won their first five Group A qualifiers, including a 2-0 victory over Thursday’s opponents Spain at Hampden Park last March.

Scotland are top of the group, six points ahead of Spain having played a game more, and Aston Villa midfielder McGinn is confident about his country’s future.

He said: “There’s plenty more to come. We’re all at a good age. We’re getting more and more experience of these games.

“The great thing for us is there’s a couple of great young players bubbling away in the background that could come and improve us.

“It’s a really exciting time to be a Scotland player. The fans are here regardless of the results, but we’re now giving them some success which we’re enjoying. Hopefully we can carry that on.

“When you come back up the road you hear about the positive impact you’re having on the whole country. Everyone is behind the team again.

“We need to be better (than the win over Spain). We’re away from home, a team is stronger at home. It wasn’t as hot in Glasgow in March.

“We need to be aggressive, it’s in our nature as a country. Hard working, determined, we’ll fight for every ball.

“We need to get the balance right. We need to be physical and aggressive, but we’ve got some great players as well. At the Spain game, we showed good moments of quality.”

McGinn was not in the mood to get into a verbal battle with Spain captain Rodri, who claimed after the defeat in Hampden that the way Scotland played was “rubbish”.

He said: “It doesn’t matter anymore. I’ve probably lost count of the amount of trophies he’s won since that game.

“There’s not much we can say to him. He’ll have said things in the heat of the moment, but it’s gone now.

“He’s a world-class player who we all respect as a squad, and I think the country should follow.”

Steve Clarke believes Scotland’s maximum performance against Spain on Thursday night will be good enough to get them at least the point they need to qualify for Euro 2024.

The Scots have won their first five qualifiers including a morale-boosting 2-0 victory over Spain at Hampden Park in March.

Scotland are six points clear of Luis de la Fuente’s side at the top of the table and will qualify for next summer’s finals in Germany if they avoid defeat in Seville or if Norway fail to beat Cyprus on the same night.

Scotland have Georgia away and Norway at home in November to complete their campaign.

Clarke said: “Belief will be part of it, obviously we have to get the tactics right. The players have to put into practise on the pitch what we have spoken about on the training ground.

“They have to play to our maximum and belief is a part of that as well.

“We have to play our game as well as we can and I believe that will be good enough to get something from the game.

“They are a very good team. Obviously they won the Nations League in the summer.

“I think when we played them in March they were probably a little bit in transition between the previous coach and new coach.

“They had a disappointing World Cup campaign so we maybe got them at a good time in March. We know we have to be very good to get a positive result tomorrow night.

“I think we have been constantly improving over my tenure as head coach.

“We are improving all the time, we are striving to improve, trying to add little bits to our game that will make us more competitive against the top teams but we understand we still have a bit to go.”

“But we don’t come here thinking that we have to sit in and defend all night.

“We have to be as effective with the ball as we were at Hampden. We want to get the job done as quickly as possible.

“If we are good enough to get it done tomorrow night that would be great. If not we have two more chances in November and we have those chances because we started the group so well.

“We have 15 points from five games, that is a good start.

“We know we have to get more points to get over the line. Do I think this team will finish the group on 15 points? No, I think we will get more points. Whether that is tomorrow or in November.”

Clarke was diplomatic when asked about Spain captain Rodri, who claimed the way Scotland played at Hampden was “rubbish” as he accused them of wasting time, provoking his team-mates and falling over.

The former Kilmarnock boss said: “I can’t even remember what he said, to be honest. It is not something that I ever get involved in.

“That game was in March, this is October. A totally different game.”

Sir Kenny Dalglish would happily take a “rubbish” Scotland performance if they got a result in Spain and qualified for Euro 2024.

Spain captain Rodri labelled Scotland’s tactics “rubbish” after being on the end of a 2-0 defeat at Hampden in March, accusing Steve Clarke’s men of provocation, feigning injury and time-wasting.

Scotland have since taken their winning start to the group to five games and sit six points ahead of Spain before their meeting in Seville on Thursday, but the home side have hit 16 goals in their other three matches.

Dalglish, Scotland’s record appearance holder, said: “I think there will be a wee bit of an edge to the game after some of the statements made here when Spain got beat.

“I don’t think I would ever back anybody to beat Spain in Spain, especially in Seville – that’s one of their favourite places to play.

“Spain are a fantastic team and they won’t be far away from winning it, if they get through the section.

“Listen, if your performance is rubbish and you beat them, it’s even better. It’s the result that counts, not the performance.

“But the way they have performed and the results they have got has been fantastic during this qualification section.

“I’m sure Spain have got the utmost respect for Scotland as well after coming here but it also gives them an edge to try and get a bit of revenge. It’s not a foregone conclusion that they are going to go through either.”

Dalglish had played a key role in Scotland’s previous win over Spain in 1984, hitting arguably the best of his 30 goals for his country in a World Cup qualifying victory at Hampden.

In typically understated fashion, the former Celtic and Liverpool forward recalled: “It came from a throw-in I think, I just hit it and it went in.

“I remember 3-1 and enjoying it. It was a big game for us that night and they were strong at that time.”

Dalglish did not play in the return fixture when Scotland went down 1-0 in Seville, but he had played in the city several years earlier in the 1982 World Cup.

“The last time I was there David Narey scored and upset the Brazilians and we got beat 4-1,” he said.

“We were driving up to the game and there was a big match in the car park, it was the Scottish fans against the Brazil fans. I think they won, we never. The fans were fantastic.”

:: Sir Kenny Dalglish was promoting Viaplay’s live and exclusive coverage of Spain v Scotland. Viaplay is available to stream from viaplay.com or via your TV provider on Sky, Virgin TV and Amazon Prime as an add-on subscription.

It is a sign of Anna Shackley’s ambitions that she looks back on a big summer of results and thinks first of what she missed out on.

There has been a pile of under-23 medals – gold at the British national championships, silver at the euros and bronze on home roads in Glasgow at the worlds, then second place overall at the Tour de l’Avenir, plus a WorldTour top-10 at the Tour de Romandie.

But the 22-year-old Scot starts by saying she wanted more from a season disrupted by a knee injury which cost her the best part of three months, ruling her out of the Ardennes Classics and La Vuelta.

“At the start of the year I wouldn’t say it had been a very good year for me at all,” Shackley told the PA news agency. “It’s been a really nice last couple of months and I’ve improved a lot but I probably haven’t achieved what I wanted to achieve.”

It is hard to say which is the most significant of Shackley’s results this season. While the podium places have all come at under-23 level, seventh overall at the Tour de Romandie pointed to her ability to compete with the world’s best even as she was helping team-mate Demi Vollering to overall victory.

But her second place at the Tour de l’Avenir in early September, in the first women’s edition of the prestigious under-23 event, showed why Shackley is seen as a future contender to win the world’s biggest stage races.

“It was really nice having l’Avenir (on the calendar),” she said. “It was a full five-day tour of only under-23 riders so it helps you grow in confidence, having that leadership role. You’re the ones making the pace and not the ones hanging on for dear life.

“I was pretty lucky (the first edition) came in my last year as an under-23 and I can do it before I’m too old.”

Leadership roles can be hard to come by for Shackley, who rides for the mighty SD Worx squad.

She got an opportunity at the UAE Tour but Shackley is competing with a stacked roster that includes Tour de France winner Vollering, world champion Lotte Kopecky, star sprinter Lorena Wiebes and Marlen Reusser to name but a few.

The Dutch team has been utterly dominant in 2023, piling up 62 victories in all.

“It’s been really nice but a very strange year,” Shackley said. “This is not normal to win so many races. The team are understandably very happy with the year but it’s been a bit insane to be riding in the same team with people like Lotte, Demi and Lorena, who can achieve so much.”

This was Shackley’s third year with the team, and the young Glaswegian is still trying to learn as much as she can from her illustrious team-mates.

“It’s a Dutch team so it’s quite loud and you have to stand up for yourself or you get drowned out but they’ve always been pretty accepting and supportive,” she said.

“I’m not sure if the Dutch are people who do an arm around the shoulder so much but it works with me anyway.”

As she looks towards 2024, Shackley’s goal is to turn one of those second places into first. But with the door closing on her time in the under-23 ranks, she knows it will only get harder.

“Each year I’ve been improving a little bit and becoming more assured of myself,” Shackley said. “If I was to win a race next year, I would be more than happy…

“Leaving the under-23 category makes you feel quite old and now there’s a bit more pressure to step up. But that’s life, you move on. I’m looking forward to it.”

Gregor Townsend is hopeful no Scotland players will decide to call time on their international careers in the wake of their demoralising World Cup pool-stage exit.

The Scots bowed out of the tournament on Saturday evening after a 36-14 thrashing at the hands of Ireland in Paris.

Former national team captains Stuart McInally and Stuart Hogg both announced earlier this year that they planned to retire after the World Cup to pursue other interests, although neither player ended up making an appearance at the showpiece in France.

Forwards WP Nel, 37, and Richie Gray, 34, are among those in the age range who may naturally be considering their futures, but Townsend would prefer to keep as many options in the fold as possible.

“I hope there are no retirements after this World Cup,” said the head coach as he reflected on the tournament on Sunday. “I think some of the older players in our squad have been some of our best performers.

“WP Nel is physically in the best shape of his life, he’s started more games for us this year than he ever has and he’s played really well.

“I thought Richie Gray was one our best players, if not the best, on the field on Saturday night. His physical ability is excellent, but also his desire to keep going at the opposition was great to see.

“So they are two of our older players and we obviously hope they are still available for the next couple of seasons.

“Whether it’s people retiring, or injury, or people not being selected because of form, we’ve got to have other players ready to go and we’ve seen that with our 33-man squad who have performed really well throughout the summer Tests and for some of them, against Romania and Tonga.”

As many supporters had feared when the draw was made back in 2020, Scotland’s tournament ultimately ended as a result of their inability to cope with defending champions South Africa and Ireland, who have been the world’s top-ranked side for the past year.

Nonetheless, Townsend feels his fifth-ranked team – who have competed well against France on three occasions this year – could have done better in both matches against the two heavyweights in their section.

“Have we reached the standards we have set for ourselves? No, we haven’t,” he said. “We played the number one and two teams in the world, and we do understand that that was always going to be difficult.

“We’ve lost to three teams over the last 14 games and those are the three teams ranked in the top three in the world. We would obviously have wanted to do better, not just making it closer but winning the games.

“We didn’t do that, so we look at ourselves and what we could have done differently. Could we have mixed up our game more? Could we and should we have finished off when we had those possessions? How could we have defended Ireland’s attacks better?

“We’ve lost to the top three teams in the world this year and they’re our only defeats. We know we have to do better and Ireland’s margin of victory was much bigger than France managed against us in the two games we lost against them.

“We know that, and it’s disappointing, and that’s the reality we have to work towards improving.”

Scotland have been the biggest victim so far of a draw that put the top five teams in the current world rankings in the same half of the tournament.

Another two of Ireland, France, South Africa and New Zealand will bite the dust in the quarter-finals next weekend.

“The last draw was based on the rankings after the previous World Cup so I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen next time,” said Townsend.

“That was something we knew going into the World Cup, that we were going to play two top teams.

“Now the top four teams in the world are playing against each other in the quarter-finals and it probably isn’t great from a World Cup point of view that two of those teams are not going to be in the semi-finals.

“For me, they have been the four best teams by a long way in this tournament.”

Sione Tuipulotu was despondent as he faced up to the realisation that he and his Scotland team-mates are flying home after suffering pool-stage elimination from the World Cup.

The Scots arrived in France at the start of September with high expectations after climbing to fifth in the world on the back of a string of impressive results and performances.

However, they were ultimately unable to overcome the challenge of being grouped alongside defending champions South Africa and the world’s top-ranked side, Ireland, in a top-heavy Pool B.

After bouncing back from their 18-3 defeat to the Boks with heavy wins over Tonga and Romania, the Scots’ bid to reach the quarter-final was killed off by a 36-14 blitzing from the rampant Irish in Paris on Saturday night.

“I’m very disappointed,” said centre Tuipulotu. “We’re out of the tournament now and it feels like all our hard work and stuff like that has come to an end.

“I know there’s more rugby to be played after this World Cup but you’re in a World Cup to win it and now we’re out of it. I’m really gutted. We had a big travelling support, so apologies to them.

“We wanted to do better in the tournament but we ran into two pretty good teams in our pool and ultimately just got beaten by better teams.”

As he tried to process the disappointment of his first World Cup coming to an end, Tuipuloto, 26, admitted it was difficult to think about the future.

“I’m very upset and I don’t really know how to deal with it,” he said. “We’ve got a good team with good blokes in our changing room. But it’s just frustrating to be saying the same type of messages after tournaments like these.

“I suppose there’s another tournament and another tournament after that and maybe the right thing to say now is ‘we’ll be better in the next tournament’ but right now I’m just feeling gutted.”

Rory Darge admitted Ireland – who scored after 63 seconds and were 26-0 up at half-time – showed Scotland why they are the top-ranked side on the planet at Stade de France.

The Irish stopped the Scots getting any reward for the sustained pressure they exerted in the first quarter of the match and then took most of the chances that came their way at the other end.

“They are the number one team in the world and they showed it,” said flanker Darge. “We could have been better in a lot of things, taken our chances when we had a lot of ball in their 22 at the start of the game.

“Once they get in behind with some of those carries, they are very, very good. They withheld a lot of what we threw at them in that first 20.

“Obviously the scoreline is what it is and that’s off the back of them being brutally clinical and we weren’t.”

Andy Farrell insists a World Cup quarter-final against New Zealand is “as tough as it gets” after “little old Ireland” topped Pool B thanks to a six-try demolition of Scotland.

The rampant Six Nations champions emphatically underlined their status as Test rugby’s top-ranked side by banishing any lingering doubts of an early exit with a crushing 36-14 success which eliminated the Scots.

Ireland will return to Paris next Saturday for a showdown with the All Blacks seeking to make history by progressing beyond the last eight of the tournament for the first time.

Head coach Farrell led his side to a landmark series success in New Zealand last summer and is braced for another major test following statement Stade de France victories over reigning champions South Africa and Scotland.

“New Zealand are a fantastic side, and for little old Ireland to be talked about in the same bracket as the All Blacks shows how far we’ve come as a rugby-playing nation,” he said.

“The respect we’ve got for New Zealand is through the roof.

“The form they’ve got at this moment in time is top drawer and I’m sure that they will be relishing this fixture to try and put a few things right. It’s tough, it’s as tough as it gets.

“Two weeks ago (against South Africa), it was a tough game and this one was knock-out type rugby so it gets a whole lot tougher next week against the All Blacks and hopefully they will need to be at their best to beat us as well.”

James Lowe’s early try settled any Irish nerves in Saint-Denis before Hugo Keenan crossed either side of a score from the recalled Iain Henderson to quickly take the game away from shell-shocked Scotland.

Dan Sheehan and Garry Ringrose added to the opposition’s embarrassment, prior to consolation tries from Scottish pair Ewan Ashman and Ali Price.

Farrell must wait to discover the true cost of a feisty affair in the French capital, with wings Mack Hansen and Lowe and replacement lock James Ryan each sustaining injuries.

“Obviously, we’ll see how they pull up in the morning but Mack went off with a HIA (head injury assessment) and when he came back on he felt his calf straight away, so we got him off,” said Farrell.

“James Ryan has a bit of a knock on his wrist that we have to assess more, so we’ll see how he is now.

“James Lowe got a bang in the eye, his eye shut and he couldn’t really see much. His vision was coming back towards the end of the game, which is good.

“Then, a few more bangs and bruises that we’ll need to assess tomorrow.”

Ireland once again performed a celebratory lap of honour in front of tens of thousands of jubilant Irish supporters.

Farrell savoured another special occasion, while wishing he could simultaneously enjoy the “bonkers” scenes back home.

“My wife and me two girls were there, that’s why I was singing to them,” he said.

“I think it’s amazing, the songs at the end of the game, I love all that.

“We got a bit of stick, didn’t we, for walking around against South Africa, but we walk round and thank the fans after every game.

“It’s the least we can do when they turn up in their thousands like they’ve done.

“We play for them, we talk about it every week. I talked about it before the game today in the dressing room, it means more than what people think, 100 per cent.

“I know that France is buzzing with Irish people, but I believe it’s bonkers back home. We’re torn a bit, enjoying it with the fans back home or stay here? We’ll stay here for now!”

Gregor Townsend admitted Ireland were simply too good for his Scotland team to handle as their World Cup dream ended with a chastening 36-14 defeat by the world’s top-ranked side in Paris on Saturday night.

After losing their opening match to South Africa, the Scots had to win with a bonus point or by denying the Irish a losing bonus in order to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Their hopes were dented by the concession of a try after just over a minute and the game was effectively over by half-time as the Irish ran in another three scores before the break to lead 26-0.

Scotland rallied slightly to win the second half 14-10, but there was a sense of dejection at full-time as they departed the tournament at the first hurdle at a time when they are ranked fifth in the world.

“It’s a very disappointing result, we have gone out of the World Cup against the highest-ranked side in the world, and they were well ahead at half-time,” rued head coach Townsend.

“We played the number two side in the world in the opening game and it was a close game.

“In isolation, this is a really disappointing defeat against a very good side and one we believed we had the ability to beat.

“They were the better team tonight, they were excellent and it’s probably the best I have seen them play.

“It’s probably where we and they are in terms of the rankings and why now they are the favourites for the World Cup.”

Townsend did not feel James Lowe’s early try set the tone as Scotland went on to enjoy a spell of pressure thereafter, albeit without reward, before Ireland turned the screw in the lead-up to half-time.

“The early try wasn’t a factor as we managed in that first 20 minutes to put some good rugby together, but we didn’t put any points on the board,” said Townsend.

“The tries before half-time we could have defended better, but I have to give credit to Ireland as they executed very well and the game went away from us.

“In the second half, I was really proud of the effort and the intent to not allow the score to become a bigger one. We came back and showed who we were in attack.

“The game had gotten away from us, so we focused on winning back respect. To get two tries against such a top team, we’ll take a little bit out of that.

“We’re very disappointed with the result and the first-half performance, but credit to Ireland, who were very, very good.”

While the fact they were placed in a group alongside the world’s top-ranked side and the defending world champions counts as some mitigation for Scotland’s early exit, Townsend acknowledged his team were not at their best over the course of the tournament.

“We certainly have to do better, and the responsibility is mine,” he said. “We believed we could get out of this pool, and we still believed that after losing to South Africa with the response the players showed in training and the games they played (against Tonga and Romania), gave us an opportunity tonight, which we didn’t take.

“Ireland are a better team than us on tonight’s performance, and they’ve won 17 games in a row so they’ve clearly been the better team over the last couple of years. Now, if we can get on the journey they have been on the last few years then great – but it is easy saying that, it is another thing doing it.

“You become a better team through defeats as well as victories, and we’ve got to make sure that this defeat makes us a better team for the Six Nations coming up and the next World Cup, although at this point the Six Nations is much more relevant.”

Rampant Ireland set up tantalising quarter-final rematch against New Zealand by condemning ragged rivals Scotland to another early World Cup exit with a crushing 36-14 bonus-point success in Paris.

Gregor Townsend’s men required a heroic win by eight points or more at Stade de France to snatch progression at the expense of their opponents.

But Test rugby’s top-ranked nation emphatically underlined their status with a thrilling display of attacking verve to avoid major drama in a feisty encounter.

James Lowe’s early try settled any nerves before Hugo Keenan crossed either side of a score from the recalled Iain Henderson to quickly take the game away from the shell-shocked Scots before the break.

Dan Sheehan and Garry Ringrose added to the embarrassment before Scottish pair Ewan Ashman and Ali Price claimed quickfire consolations.

Ireland will take on the All Blacks in the last eight, seeking to avenge the 46-14 thrashing suffered at the same stage of the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

Head coach Andy Farrell perhaps has cause for concern ahead of that showdown due apparent injuries suffered by wings Mack Hansen and Lowe.

Scotland, meanwhile, face an early flight home for the second successive tournament, with South Africa going through as Pool B runners-up to take on hosts France.

Premature departures for Blair Kinghorn, Jamie Ritchie and Darcy Graham due to fitness issues contributed to their woes, while Ollie Smith was shown a yellow card for causing a mass brawl.

The Scots came into the competition with one of their most talented teams in years but, following a chastening evening in the French capital, were left to rue being placed in the most difficult group alongside the reigning champions and the world’s number one team.

Permutations, premature elimination and the slim possibility of the Springboks crashing out dominated the build-up to a titanic qualification shoot-out in Saint-Denis.

A deafening roar greeted the teams and the decibels were raised further among the dominant Irish support with just over a minute on the clock when Hansen sent Lowe over in the left corner after Ringrose dummied his way beyond Grant Gilchrist.

Scotland roared back and showed a statement of intent by kicking a series of penalties to the corner, forcing Ireland to ferociously repel prolonged pressure.

But their cause was not helped by losing full-back Kinghorn, whose 50th cap lasted just nine minutes, and captain Ritchie, while Ireland wing Hansen also went off.

Ireland’s defiant defending was matched equally by awesome attacking enterprise and they stretched the scoreboard significantly with two quickfire tries.

Delightful slick interplay from right to left unlocked the Scottish backline, culminating in Ringrose teeing up the onrushing Keenan in the 27th minute, before Henderson marked his first start of the tournament by bulldozing over minutes later.

Far from thinking about the knock-out stages, Scotland trudged down the tunnel at the break fearing humiliation.

Ireland’s well-oiled machine led 26-0 ahead at that stage with a bonus point in the bag after Johnny Sexton set up Keenan’s second and then sent over his third successful conversion.

Scotland desperately needed to show some fight and did so as tempers boiled over early in the second period during a melee sparked by Smith’s off-the-ball trip on Sexton.

Players from both sides piled in, with Pierre Schoeman and Sheehan ploughing over an advertising board, before instigator Smith was sin-binned.

Sheehan was on the floor again minutes later, this time diving over to claim Ireland’s fifth try before Farrell wisely withdrew talisman Sexton, in addition to five of his forwards.

Jack Crowley’s fine cross-field kick sent over Ringrose before Scottish resistance finally materialised in the shape of a pair of well-taken scores, each converted by the largely subdued Finn Russell.

Replacement hooker Ashman made an immediate impact by galloping over on the right to ensure his side were not whitewashed, before scrum-half Price finished a fine team move.

Yet their endeavours mattered little as Ireland comfortably marched on thanks to a 17th successive win and a ninth in a row against the eliminated Scots.

The third round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship has been abandoned after Scotland was hit by heavy rain.

The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for a large part of central Scotland, while a yellow weather warning covers most of the country.

There will be no play on Saturday at the DP World Tour event at St Andrews due to the inclement conditions, with Ryder Cup hero Matt Fitzpatrick currently one shot clear at the top of the leaderboard.

A statement on the DP World Tour’s official X page read: “Saturday’s play has been abandoned. Round three will begin at 09:00 local time on Sunday morning.”

Dundee’s Scottish Premiership game with Ross County has also been called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

The Dens Park outfit said in a post on X: “Following the referee’s pitch inspection this morning, today’s match with Ross County has been postponed. Constant rainfall throughout the night and more forecasted has meant the match has been called off.

“The safety of travelling fans has been taken into consideration.”

Dunfermline’s Championship clash with Arbroath has also been postponed after failing an 11am pitch inspection.

In League Two, Bonnyrigg Rose’s match against East Fife and Elgin City’s home game with Stenhousemuir have also fallen foul of the weather.

James Lowe insisted in-form Ireland are far from “invincible” as he dismissed the notion complacency could derail their Rugby World Cup dream.

Andy Farrell’s side have swept all before them during a 15-month stay at the top of the Test rankings which has brought 16 consecutive victories.

Ireland are on the cusp of the quarter-finals in France but could still be on an early flight home as they prepare to put their impressive winning streak on the line in Saturday evening’s pivotal Pool B finale against rivals Scotland.

The Six Nations Grand Slam champions must prevent defeat by eight points or more in Paris to secure a knockout spot, otherwise their fate will be reliant on bonus points or head-to-head results.

Leinster wing Lowe, who has already helped Ireland overcome Romania, Tonga and South Africa, is taking nothing for granted.

“Obviously it does give us confidence in what we’ve done over the last three to four years in terms of what we’ve built,” said the 31-year-old.

“We know what works but even in wins there’s still things to learn. Invincible? I wouldn’t go anywhere near that word. Complacency is something that can’t creep into this group as well and it doesn’t.

“We understand the serious threats and we’ve respected every opposition that we’ve played so far in this competition. We’re just as diligent with Scotland as we were with South Africa, Romania, and Tonga.”

Farrell’s men are essentially playing knockout rugby as they bid to confirm a likely last-eight clash with New Zealand.

Ireland have won the last eight meetings with Scotland and not lost to them by at least eight points since a 31-21 warm-up defeat before the last World Cup to be staged in France, way back in 2007.

“Look, Scotland are an amazing team who have definitely pushed us,” said New Zealand-born Lowe.

“I know we’ve probably had the better end of the stick in the last few encounters.

“They’re a team that play with a lot of passion, width and physicality. You respect them because you really, really don’t want to lose. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”

The build-up to the crunch clash has come amid a bedbug outbreak across Paris and other French cities.

Ireland have so far been unaffected, with scrum coach John Fogarty joking that certain members of the squad have a built-in repellent.

“Some of the lads fumigate their beds naturally, so there’s no issue,” he said. “Some of the front five, it’s not a problem!

“(I) haven’t come across one (bedbug) really. We have been so lucky with where we’ve stayed and how well we have been looked after here in France. I haven’t heard of any issues so far.”

Ireland had their captain’s run at Stade de France on Friday morning.

Injured centre Robbie Henshaw, who is expected to be sidelined until at least the semi-final stage due to a hamstring issue, was involved, albeit he was restricted to light jogging away from the other 32 players.

“He’s good, as you saw, he’s out running so he’ll be assessed as we go along and we’ll see after the weekend how he pitches up next week,” said Fogarty.