A sixth defeat in a row was bad enough but the manner of Scotland's capitulation reinforced the impression of a camp in disarray in Dublin on Saturday.

Ahead of the match there was general fear among the Irish that their team was there for the taking as a result of the punishing schedule inflicted on them by the rearranged meeting with France the previous weekend.

Indeed, had Scotland supporters been asked at the start of the season to name four Irish players they wanted to remove from their ranks they would probably have opted for Brian O'Driscoll, Paul O'Connell, Sean O'Brien and Connor Murray, all of whom were ruled out. In their absence the team was led by another injured player, Rory Best, having to battle with rib damage, just about the worst of problems for a front-row scrummagers.

Yet, just six days after they themselves had folded in the second half in Paris to allow France to claim a draw that kept them in RBS Six Nations Championship title running, they picked Scotland apart almost at will. Perhaps most telling was that in the second period when attrition should have caused them to suffer most, they kept their visitors scoreless.

This feeble effort has the potential to change the mood of the Scottish rugby community that had previously remained supportive of Andy Robinson and his coaching team but must now question whether the impression of progress being made in spite of defeats has been illusory.

When appointed as coach, Robinson had sought to distance himself from the succession of predecessors who had preached the view that results would be a by-product of improvement by stressing that he understood that professional sport is merely about winning by whatever means possible.

Some early results achieved under his charge reflected that as immense defensive efforts and world class goal-kicking saw several higher ranked opponents beaten in spite of Scotland's inability to win the try count.

There has not been the slightest improvement in terms of the potency of Scotland's attack, but the winning habit that was being generated last year with five-successive wins over modest opposition, had been replaced by developing a knack of playing well in many areas and losing even before Saturday.

What was most disturbing about this abject effort, though, was that it showed all the symptoms of a regime that is unravelling. This squad – for all the protestations otherwise – clearly seem to have been affected by off-field machinations as they have generated a losing run surpassed by only five other Scotland teams.

In particular the apparent collapse of resolve since the decision to sack Graham Steadman as defence coach was revealed with abysmal timing on the morning of the team's meeting with Wales a month ago, has been particularly striking.

The camp, meanwhile, consoled themselves after the defeat by France with having scored two tries, even though it was well known that the nature of the French defence would offer them more room to play than they enjoy against the other home nations. They had, after all, scored three tries in losing in Paris last year.

On Saturday, Richie Gray's stunning solo effort apart – when striding clear before selling a dummy to Rob Kearney that could drive the Lions full-back into therapy as he seeks to come to terms with being so badly fooled by a front five forward – it was even worse than the usual litany of line breaks and lost chances.

The Scots had started reasonably well with Greig Laidlaw kicking two penalties, but they themselves had been exposed with ridiculous ease when an Irish lineout move ended with Best defying his rib trouble to stretch to the line for the opening try.

By contrast to that excellent decision making and lethal finishing, after Jonny Sexton had extended Ireland's advantage with a penalty to add to his conversion of Best's try Scotland blew a huge opportunity to build momentum.

Three close-range penalties in quick succession had been awarded when, inexplicably, Scotland opted to take the points rather than maintain pressure. Afterwards Ross Ford, their captain, claimed they had done so because no Irishman had been sin-binned after the third offence, that it was not worth the risk of trying another drive and that they opted to kick for goal because the penalty was nearer the posts than the previous one.

It was actually from exactly the same place as the second, so either the second decision or the third was, by definition, wrong. Robinson claimed that he, rather than the captain, had made the call, but either way it was a poor one.

Robinson also claimed it was not that decision which led to the concession of further soft tries before the interval but, as Ireland proved, tries change games and had Scotland moved ahead at that point, it might have tested their opponents differently.

Instead Eoin Reddan was subsequently allowed to turn sloppy possession into a try when squirming under past three Scottish defenders.

Gray offered that hint of hope before an attack launched by Kearney ended with Andrew Trimble forcing his way through Lee Jones' tackle and into the right corner to end the first half.

With Scotland's set piece malfunctioning the second half was scoreless and largely uneventful until a horrible clash of heads between the wingers rendered Jones unconscious.

Sexton put Ireland further clear with a second penalty and after Max Evans was quite rightly sin-binned for obstructing Keith Earls as the winger chased his own kick down the right, Ireland took advantage of the extra man to score a fourth try as Fergus McFadden forced his way over from close range.

In the end an 18-point winning margin surprised everyone in Ireland, whether local or visitor, but it did not flatter the home side such is the gulf between these teams.