SCOTLAND centre Pete Horne has insisted that the national team are ready to end their losing run, despite the agony of being defeated in Dublin at the weekend. The Glasgow back contributed ten points through a try, a penalty and a conversion in the 28-22 loss to Ireland.

That result was better than many had predicted, given this was Scotland’s first pre-season friendly and Ireland are ranked No.2 in the world.

But Horne said that the team could not waste time on being happy with narrow losses, and would go all out to get back on the winning track when they take on Italy in Turin on Saturday.

“We know ourselves that we can do better and start winning these games, and that’s something we’re striving towards,” Horne said.

“We’re not going to rest on our laurels that we’ve run the second-best team in the world close.

“Everyone in that changing room is gutted that we lost the game, but we’ll keep our heads up and make sure we work on that next week.

"If we’re going to win these games we need to be dogs, we need to be tough to beat and have that grit, but we’re getting there.

“Some of our results in the past haven’t been good enough, and that’s reflected in our position in the rankings” - Scotland are 12th just now - “but we’re realistic. We know where we’re at.

“Although we ran them close, ultimately we came out on the wrong side of the scoreboard and that’s something we’re desperate to change. We keep coming really close but not getting over the line, but there were a lot of positives to work on.”

Horne could have had a bigger points tally, as he missed a penalty just before half-time with the score at 7-7 and another effort wide as well Despite that first chance, Scotland were lucky to go in at the break level, as Ireland had dominated the first half-hour but failed to turn pressure into more than a single score, a Chris Henry try converted by Ian Madigan.

Horne converted Blair Cowan’s try after half an hour to tie the scores, then after the break the visitors went ahead through Warriors scrum-half Henry Pyrgos, captaining the team for the first time.

Two more tries from Sean Cronin and Simon Zebo seemed to have the Irish home and dry, but Scotland replied swiftly when Horne got on the end of a good break by Sean Lamont. Ruaridh Jackson’s conversion gave Scotland a 21-22 lead, but the lead did not last long. With ten minutes left, a superb cross-field pass from Madigan was gathered by Luke Fitzgerald out on the left for a score which Madigan himself converted. Madigan failed with a penalty attempt five minutes from time, but Ireland had still done just enough to end up on top.

“The coach demands high standards from us all, so we need to learn from games like this so we can move on,” added Horne, who was pleased with his overall performance but annoyed by that penalty miss and another attempt that went wide. “I was hitting the ball pretty well and was disappointed at those two which just missed the outside of the post. I need to make sure I nail those in big games because they could prove costly.

“That was a big moment just before half-time. We should have been in at 10-7. But I’ll keep my head down and make sure I keep working even harder and hopefully if I get the chance again I’ll be better.”