Defence coach Andy Farrell wants Ireland to “love defending” against Italy, after their opening Six Nations weekend defeat to Scotland on Saturday.

Ireland were poor in the first half as they went in at the break 22-5 down to their Celtic rivals, before overturning the deficit to take a 22-21 lead.

Greig Laidlaw’s two decisive penalties won it for Scotland, but it was clear to Farrell, who will again be Warren Gatland’s defence coach for the British and Irish Lions, where the game was lost for Joe Schmidt’s men.

"Every single time we get an opportunity to defend, we should love it, and we didn't," Farrell said.

"So our mood was affected, our appetite was affected a little bit, and we got it back in the second half.

"We'll work on the reasons why. I'm more concerned about the mood at the time, of our lack of want to get back in the line and enjoy our defence.

"Our mood was completely different in the first half compared to what it was in the second half and I think we let things a little bit affect us and we shouldn't do that defensively. We should love defending."

Such was the difference in the two performances Ireland put in either side of half time, that Scotland head coach Vern Cotter asserted that Farrell had changed up Ireland’s defensive approach – something that frustrated the former dual-code international, who said it was the mood, not the tactics, which had changed.

"I think the upsetting thing for myself after the game was that Vern Cotter came up to me - and Scotland, all credit to them, I thought they played really well, especially in the first half - but he said, 'Jeez, you changed your defence in the second half, didn't you?'.

Ireland were poor in the first half against Scotland (Getty)

"And we didn't. We didn't. So now you can understand why I'm talking about the mood."

Up next for the Irish is the must-win game against Italy in Rome, with defeat almost certainly ending Schmidt’s men’s dreams of winning the championship.

Italy are led by former Ireland full-back Conor O’Shea, who is looking to engineer a new fighting spirit amongst the Azzurri, having led against Wales at half time on Sunday, before falling to a 33-7 defeat.

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"We need to enjoy our defence this weekend against Italy, we need to get the ball back because if we don't, the Italians are going to be hard work for us," said Farrell, who is expecting another tough encounter.

"It's a tough old match over there and we've seen plenty of games where teams have come unstuck so you have to be at your best in this championship against absolutely everyone.