Scotland became Rugby League European champions for the first time in their short history yesterday and in doing so claimed the cherished prize of a place in the 2016 Four Nations tournament after an afternoon of nerve-shredding drama.

Steve McCormack, who has been Scotland's head coach for the past 10 years, admitted it had been unbearably tense as he watched most of the final match of the championship unfold on Twitter, helpless as he and his players were to influence the events that unfolded in Wrexham as Ireland chased victory by a 41-point margin to top the table on points differential.

"It was never in doubt," he joked. "With two minutes to go I stopped watching and just waited for the texts that I knew would come in either way. There must have been 500 of them within half an hour."

McCormack deserves huge credit for the way he has assembled a competitive team over the past decade as a sport that is virtually without funding in Scotland has struggled to keep its head above water. "This is fantastic for the lads," said their coach. "We've come an awful long way, though and it's not just down to those who have played over the past few weeks.

"Our match on Friday night marked the 20th anniversary of the first Scotland international and it's been really tough for the people on the ground floor, all these volunteers doing so much for nothing.

"We're also delighted that in a country that's very proud of its rugby, whether union or league, we've got a team that can call itself European champions."

For a lengthy chunk of yesterday afternoon it had, however, not seemed it would turn out that way with Scotland looking as if they were going to pay a hideous price for their Hallowe'en attack of the horrors when a shocking first-half performance had allowed France to score seven tries in claiming a 38-6 lead in Galashiels on Friday.

It was the only half of rugby the Scots lost in the course of the tournament and while they showed character to score 16 unanswered second-half points to edge the French on points difference, its scale left things in the balance.

When Ireland then ran in five first-half tries against Wales to set up a 28-0 first-half lead yesterday it looked all but over for the Scots, but once again the host team crucially showed some pride in the second half, Tom Hughes' breakaway try in the dying seconds, as Ireland pressed for the score they needed, taking the final scoreline to 14-46.

If missing out on what would have been their first European title was bad enough, worse still would have been the loss of that place in the Four Nations with Australia, England and New Zealand, but McCormack believes his men got what they deserved for the work they put in.

"That's international football," he said of the way France had run them ragged during a 25-minute burst in which they scored five tries.

"You've got to be on the ball all the time especially against a side like that French team, but we knew at half-time that we could have rolled over or we could come out fighting and that's what we're all about.

"It was a disaster in that first half, but the performances in the previous two games gave us a chance to salvage things and in the end we did just enough."

McCormack chose not to make the relatively short trip trip from his home in Wigan to Wrexham yesterday, such was the potential for pain after he and Danny Brough, the team's talismanic captain, had both described that first-half performance in Galashiels as the team's worst in their decade-long involvements with the team.

They know, too, that they are a long way from operating at the level required to be competitive with the sport's super-powers in two years time, let alone at the following year's World Cup in Australia, but McCormack is relishing the challenge.

"We've got a massive job, there's no doubt about it, but if you look at the way Samoa are playing in the current four nations where they have played England and New Zealand and run them both close and also when you look at last year's World Cup when we beat Tonga and competed well against New Zealand, it shows what can be done," he said.