Scottish teams must become more "streetwise" and develop a "killer instinct" if they are to compete for trophies, says Rory Lawson.

Former Scotland captain Lawson says it's a trend Glasgow, Edinburgh and the national team must reverse.

"Ulster showed the gnarl and street wisdom that maybe Edinburgh just don't have," he said.

"It seems to be synonymous with Scotland v Ireland encounters. You go back to Yokohama and the World Cup [when Scotland lost 27-3], it's the same thing.

"The dark arts, a strategy and on-field plan that was executed really well, versus a bit of tactical naivety."

The defeat was Edinburgh's fourth in four knockout matches under Richard Cockerill, three of them against Irish sides.

The national team have won just one of their last nine Test matches against Ireland, and Lawson believes the Scottish game has a lot to learn from their Celtic rivals about winning tight matches.

"The only way that you can shake the monkey off the back is consistently winning those matches, showing the dark arts, the Test-match mentality, the killer instinct to see home a game where you're under pressure," Lawson said.

"See those games home, or come back to win a game by being a little bit more streetwise or building pressure that little bit better.

"Whilst there has been undoubted progress, typically it has been these big games we end up coming back to this."