Seven days on from their Grand Slam-ruining wobble in Cardiff, this was transmission impressively resumed by Joe Schmidt’s Ireland. The proud performance wasn’t without imperfection but their way more direct, full of running approach was enough for them to surpass the points target set by Wales earlier in the afternoon. Then it was all eyes on England before the result at Twickenham brought confirmation that Schmidt’s side could party like it was 1949 all over again – the last time the country won back-to-back championships. The Ireland players celebrate as they are crowned Six Nations champions after England failed to beat France by the 26 points they needed . Captain Paul O'Connell holds aloft the Six Nations trophy at Murrayfield after Ireland were crowned champions for the second consecutive year . The Irish squad celebrate their Six Nations success as fireworks are set off from within Murrayfield following England's win . Irish fans celebrate their side winning the Six Nations after watching England beat France 55-35 at Twickenham . Sean O'Brien of Ireland goes over to score the second try during the RBS Six Nations match between Scotland and Ireland at Murrayfield . No one can begrudge them their triumph. With just four tries scored this term, this tricky away assignment had become even trickier in the hours before kick-off, as Wales’ runaway win in Rome meant Ireland required a 21-point win to reclaim the top spot which they had initially lost to England last weekend with defeat at the Millennium Stadium. That would have considerably heightened the pressure to deliver but they were largely unfazed, throwing off the shackles and looking a side emboldened by finesse and hungry for scores. Meddling Scotland initially refused to go along with Ireland’s best intentions. They may have offered up a dozen turnovers and bled on the penalty count by a rate of 12 to six, but they were still combative to a degree despite getting held scoreless in a second half where Ireland dominated territory. They came close, mind, rallying well during Geoff Cross’ sin-binning and knocking on just metres short. Even then they sent Irish hearts a flutter, believing they had scored in the corner with only minutes left only for the TMO review to prove Jamie Heaslip had excellently shunted the ball from Stuart Hogg’s hands before he grounded. It was superb scrambling, an appetite which epitomised Ireland’s attitude in comprehensively winning an entertaining battle played out on a fast track vastly superior to the state of previous pitches laid at Murrayfield. Ireland players celebrate at the end of the match at Murrayfield before later being crowned Six Nations champions . Scotland's Finn Russell is tackled by Ireland's Conor Murray and Rory Best during their Six Nations rugby match at Murrayfield stadium . Ireland rectified many of the issues that had affected them last weekend, buoyancy greatly helped by a tonic start. Referee Jerome Garces turned a blind eye to a scrum collapse, telling Conor Murray to play the ball. He did, Johnny Sexton looping with Jared Payne before sending Tommy Bowe haring through the gap, a linebreak that eventually resulted in Paul O’Connell going over off the side of a Rob Kearney ruck. Sexton added the conversion and a 10th minute penalty before Scotland finally found their legs and a series of errors led to a Greig Laidlaw penalty riposte before the momentum swing was pierced by penalty-winning breakdown foraging by Rory Best. With Luke Fitzgerald, shining in his first start in four years, linking well with Kearney, Ireland pounced for their second try on 24 minutes after well-worked set-piece. Best threw to the rear, Devin Toner gathered and his slick transfer before landing resulted in Sean O’Brien stepping Dougie Fife to score. Sexton converted for a 14-point lead, just seven short of the all important Wales target, but there was quickly a painful reminder that there was still much work to do to even win this game first. O'Brien of Ireland goes over to score the second try during the RBS Six Nations match between Scotland and Ireland at Murrayfield . Kearney failed to deal with a grubber kick send his way and the spilled possession led to a three-on-one overlap numerous phases later where Robbie Henshaw couldn’t prevent Finn Russell nabbing the try converted by Laidlaw. It was another example of Ireland getting exposed on their righthand side off quick ruck ball, as France and Wales scored this way and England nearly did so too in the final minute in Dublin. They now needed to better mind themselves and a scrum collapse allowed Sexton to grab the 20-10 advantage they took with them to the break. The out-half added another five minutes after the resumption and then ushered in Jared Payne under the posts on 50 minutes after another metre-eating maul had eaten away at the Scottish defence. Sexton added the extras, 20 points was now the margin and Ireland were now level with Wales’ points difference but on tries scored. Scotland: 15-Stuart Hogg, 14-Dougie Fife, 13-Mark Bennett (Visser), 12-Matt Scott (Tonks), 11-Tommy Seymour, 10-Finn Russell, 9-Greig Laidlaw (Hidalgo-Clyne 56); 1-Ryan Grant (Dickinson 29), 2-Ross Ford (Brown 52), 3-Euan Murray (Cross 11), 4-Jim Hamilton (Swinson 52), 5-Jonny Gray, 6-Adam Ashe (Harley 56), 7-Blair Cowan, 8-David Denton . Replacements: 16-Fraser Brown, 17-Alasdair Dickinson, 18-Geoff Cross, 19-Tim Swinson, 20-Rob Harley, 21-Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22-Greg Tonks, 23-Tim Visser . Ireland: 15-Rob Kearney, 14-Tommy Bowe, 13-Jared Payne, 12-Robbie Henshaw, 11-Luke Fitzgerald, 10-Jonathan Sexton (Madigan), 9-Conor Murray (Reddan 79); 1-Cian Healy (McGrath 54), 2-Rory Best (Cronin 61), 3-Mike Ross (Moore 45), 4-Devin Toner (Henderson 61), 5-Paul O'Connell (captain), 6-Peter O'Mahony, 7-Sean O'Brien (Murphy 72), 8-Jamie Heaslip . Replacements: 16-Sean Cronin, 17-Jack McGrath, 18-Martin Moore, 19-Iain Henderson, 20-Jordi Murphy, 21-Eoin Reddan, 22-Ian Madigan, 23-Felix Jones . Referee: Jerome Garces . Touch judges: Pascal Gauzere (France) & Federico Anselmi (Argentina) TMO: Graham Hughes (England) Scorers: . Scotland – Try: Russell. Cons: Laidlaw. Pen: Laidlaw . Ireland – Try: O’Connell, O’Brien (2), Payne. Cons: Sexton (3), Madigan. Pens: Sexton (4). Scotland's Jonny Gray wins line out ball during the Six Nations rugby match between Scotland and Ireland at Murrayfield in Edinburgh . Ireland's O'Brien and Devin Toner get away from Scotland's Gray during the 2015 RBS Six Nations match at the Murrayfield Stadium . Ireland's O'Brien scores a try during the 2015 RBS Six Nations match at Murrayfield Stadium . Despite their growing dominance, it wasn’t until the 62 minute that they managed the score that put them top of the pile. Sexton inexplicably hit an upright with a close-in ruck penalty, a shocking aberration which indicated the high stakes involved. He then missed another, kicking wide to the right from the 10-metre line after Cross was yellow carded. However, with uncontested scrums now required during the replacement prop’s absence, Fitzgerald probed off a set-piece to offer Sexton another glimpse of the target and he was third time lucky. He then signed off with cramp after the kick-and-chase that closed down Greig Tonks to win the lineout that engineered O’Brien’s 72nd minute try, the back row demonstrating great agility to stretch out beyond Alasdair Dickinson and ground. Hogg’s near-miss followed, as did a penalty miss from Ian Madigan, before all eyes switched to England.
England needed to beat France by 26 points to win Six Nations title after Ireland secured battling win over Scotland . But Stuart Lancaster's side could only manage a 20-point winning margin as Ireland were crowned champions . Wales cranked up the pressure beforehand with a pulsating second-half display against Italy giving them the win .