Hadden pleased by Scots momentum

Andrew Henderson grabbed a hat-trick of tries while Ally Hogg and Euan Murray also crossed for the Scots as they ended their recent dismal run against Ireland.

Hadden said: "I said before the game it was important to generate a bit of momentum going into the World Cup and to make sure we got off to a winning start so obviously we are delighted with that."

He added: "I said to the players that I wanted to see the enthusiasm, energy and intensity we have seen in our preparations evident on the pitch and I think there's absolutely no doubt that we saw that as well.

"The key areas that we have worked on in terms of preparation with fitness guru Mark Bitcon is trying to generate some more dominance in the contact area - especially the tackle and the driving maul - and we were equally delighted with our efforts there.

"The weather conditions obviously made it fairly straightforward in terms of how we were going to approach the game and all in all we are very happy with our day's work.

"Ireland came back into it in the second half but that's what happens in matches. I never felt inclined to panic in terms of our substitution strategy in order to try to change the way the game was going."

Hadden admits he will be in close touch with his medical department over the next few days as he finalises his squad for the World Cup.

Chris Cusiter will be the player under particular examination after the scrum-half limped off in the last minute of the game. The fitness of the Lions tourist and any other injuries which emerge over the next couple of days will play a part in Hadden's final squad selection on Tuesday.

He said: "We will be monitoring every player very closely because we have some big selections to make fairly soon. Chris Cusiter has ice on his foot injury and we'll just have to see how that one develops. Simon Taylor has got a lot of stitches in his face and felt he couldn't come back on because of the size of the cut but we're not too worried about him."