ONE wonders what they put in the post-match recovery drinks.

It must be some elixir of distilled optimism, some potion that banishes recent reality for the promise of future serenity.

It can be the only explanation for the communal gathering of "positives" from the Scotland squad in the wake of what was a hugely dispiriting defeat for supporters.

It must be noted that Vern Cotter, the head coach, seemed in the early stages of a crushing hangover from an RBS 6 Nations that ended without a win and in the most calamitous fashion in overwhelming defeat to an excellent Ireland side.

Yet the message from coach and players was that "tweaks" would be made to make everything all right. It is axiomatic that defeat follows an accumulation of small, negative things in an 80-minute match. It is also undeniable that Ireland are a fine, well-coached side that should go deep in the World Cup.

But it must be acknowledged that this is a Scotland team that performed to the dictates of recent history. When Ireland won the championship in 2009, Scotland won one match. In the six championships since, Scotland have won five matches.

This suggests that it may be, well, hopeful to predict a barnstorming World Cup campaign. The "little things" that Scotland are getting wrong include not passing to a team-mate, not holding on to the ball, especially in the opponents' 22, and not tackling players en route to the try line. This amounts to suicide against sides such as Ireland.

There are glimmers of light amid the bleakness. Stuart Hogg is an enterprising full-back, Alex Dunbar, who could just return for the World Cup, and Mark Bennett are fine centres and Finn Russell has potential at 10. It is more difficult to be upbeat in the forwards though Jonny Gray is undoubtedly a star in the making.

The collective, though, has to become more reliable, more resilient, more difficult to beat. The clock is running. "We have six months to the World Cup. The boys will be back at their clubs this week and it will be a case of week on week individuals working on what they need to work on, tidying wee things up," said Russell, who scored his first professional try on Saturday.

"It is not far off. It is only ball going to hand or an offload that could have been a try and got us on the front foot again. It is not far off. It is just small mistakes that are costing us games."

The repetition of the sentiment that Scotland are near to solving the crisis is made, one suspects, out of hope rather than on the evidence of a campaign where the defeats have followed a distinct pattern. Scotland regularly have to play catch-up and their composure vanishes. Against Italy, by contrast, Scotland had to hold on to a lead. And their composure vanished.

Russell, too, believed Scotland could have won against Wales but the reasons for that defeat were all too typical and conceded by the fly half in the mantra of "missed tackles", "missed chances".

There is now an international break until Cotter reconvenes his side in the summer for the build-up to the World Cup. Russell believes the players will use this hiatus wisely.

"We need to get better as individuals and a team. The only way to do that is to get the feedback from the coaches and it is then up to the individual players to go away to club level and work on these things and come back into the pre-season as a better team," he said.

Russell, of course, returns to a Glasgow team that is fine form and is operating at a different end of its league table to the national side.

"I guess it helps if your club is playing well. Edinburgh and Glasgow are both playing well but individual players need to work on stuff in sessions or in games. A big part will be looking back on what we did badly and what we did well - and how we can step up again in the World Cup," he said.

Russell has personal objectives. "As a playmaker, I have to look back and take a lot out of these past five games. I have to look at what I can do better and take that into Glasgow. For me, the more I play the better I should get.

"The pre-season will be good for us. We will get the team really tight and go into the World Cup knowing exactly what we are going to do."

He ended with a promise: "It will come."

Maybe it will but there is no sign of an imminent breakthrough. Scotland may just have enough to qualify for the knockout phase of the World Cup. But it will be other sides in the Six Nations who will have more substantial ambitions, more pressing claims to glory.