Josh van der Flier made an early bid to retain his world player of the year award at Murrayfield by adding lineout throwing to his bag of tricks.
With hooker Dan Sheehan's replacement Rónan Kelleher not able to throw in after suffering a shoulder injury, van der Flier was tasked at half-time with taking over those duties.
While his first throw was stolen by the Scots, van der Flier found an Irishman with three of his four other throws in the 22-7 victory.
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"I was actually a bit disappointed with a few of them," said the 29-year-old. "A few went well and then a few didn't."
The second one lost on his watch was actually a good throw, just a little over-cooked.
"Yeah, it spun," he smiled. "It spun nicely. I was chatting to the other hookers after the game and they said, 'Whatever you do, you always blame the jumper and the lifter'.
"So I might go with that tactic this week.
"I felt alright actually. I've played no 7 for it must be 15 years since playing in school and that's never actually happened. There have been times where I've been close to throwing, so no better place to do it than in Murrayfield with a packed house. It felt alright, felt fine.
"The chat out there was incredibly calm. James Ryan was calling the lineout and he was very relaxed. He was asking what I was comfortable with or whatever. So it was good.
"Johnny (Sexton) and Pete (O'Mahony), they both spoke at half-time. James Ryan spoke at half-time.
"In each area there was a voice. I spoke to Rónan Kelleher, Dan Sheehan and Rob Herring. John Fogarty had a word with me as well. I was just asking them was there anything I needed to know but it was something we had prepared and it worked out OK.”
Van der Flier had been rehearsing for just such a scenario.
"I do a bit, yeah," said the Leinster forward. "When I was in the academy I used to get given out to for messing about in the gym doing hooker throws!
"But it's something we've talked about and practiced the odd time because a hooker can get yellow carded, or it's rare now that you get two injuries like that, but it's something we talk about and we have a rough plan if it happens.
"It was a strange game. Scotland were very, very good and obviously they posed a lot of challenges.
"We started losing a few players throughout the game which had its challenges as well, especially for myself and Cian Healy and a few lads playing out of position. We managed to keep the performance going and managed to get the win, which is pretty special in those circumstances.
“It has happened before. I can’t remember specific games but there were games where it has happened. Maybe not all forwards but maybe in the backs and I would end up on the wing for the last 10 minutes or whatever. It’s definitely hard to keep your fluidity, I guess.
"The way we stayed calm together was great. That’s what you have to do. You can’t panic. It’s trying to stay calm in those situations.
“There was certainly a temptation to think throughout the first half when we had a narrow lead and lads were starting to drop off, losing a few key players, ‘oh no, this is going to be one of those days where nothing goes our way’.
"That was what made it such a nice win because it wasn’t straightforward."
Van der Flier elaborated: “The mentality really has grown. It has been getting better and better. Looking back to a few years ago we might have struggled in some of those tighter games but Gary Keegan and the coaches have been brilliant in getting our mindset right.
“Gary Keegan is our sports psychologist and he has individual times for lads and then he does team sessions as well on how we can get the most our of our minds as well as our bodies. His work has been brilliant.
“It has all come together nicely and when you are on a nice run of wins as well it helps.
“I have always been pretty big on the mental side of things. We have been lucky in Leinster and Ireland that we have always had people coming up through the academy. We had Enda McNulty, I found him brilliant as well.
"It is a huge part of the game and it maybe isn’t obvious watching on. You can see it on a day like this, when it seems like a completely crazy game and then you get told at half-time that you are throwing in the lineout.
"All these things get thrown at you and it helps, preparing for those things.”
Van der Flier and the rest of the Ireland squad returned to Carton House last night to begin the swift recovery process needed with a six day turnaround for the final round clash with England at the Aviva Stadium.
"It was a physical game," reflected the flanker. "Scotland threw a huge amount at us, really good ball-carriers.
"The ruck was a big contest, a lot of big hits went in. But my body is feeling good, which is great. No doubt it will be stiff but I think there will be a lot of sore lads.
"Hopefully the lads who came off injured will be alright because it's a short enough turnaround. We have six days to the next game, so everyone's on their recovery strategies now."
And, of course, there is the little matter of a Grand Slam to achieve after wins against Wales, France, Italy and Scotland.
"It's incredible," van der Flier beamed. "I haven't really thought about it.
"Obviously, it's in the back of your mind and somebody might ask you about it but you try to completely block it out because we obviously had Scotland.
"It's unbelievably exciting. St. Patrick's weekend and playing at home, it's a dream, really."
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