Scotland remain a "work in progress" says head coach Gregor Townsend, as their mixed autumn continued with a 31-16 defeat by Ireland.

Despite a strong start, Townsend's men fell away in Dublin to finish fourth in the Autumn Nations Cup.

"I thought the first 35 minutes was some of the best rugby we've played all year," the Scotland coach said.

"That was above expectations given it was a new team, a new 10 and new 12. The disappointment is what happened in the 10-15 minutes after that.

"Yes you want to see that long-term development and see the team improving but you come here to win games, and we went from a position where we felt we could kick on and win that game to one where the game went away from us."

Jaco van der Walt made his Scotland debut at fly-half while Duncan Taylor returned for the first time since the World Cup at inside centre.

Hamish Watson was also rested as Townsend experimented with his team after their final Autumn Nations Cup pool match against Fiji was cancelled.

A second-half improvement by Ireland, and Scotland's ill-discipline turned a two-point game at half-time into a comfortable win for the home side.

But Townsend refuted a suggestion that his team were bullied up front after the break, and praised the incoming players to have featured in recent months.

"We've seen players that maybe wouldn't have seen as many minutes in international rugby, and that's been good for them," he said.

"It means if they put the effort in in training or come into our camp on form then they'll get the opportunity. Now we want to see them take that experience and motivation into the next two months.

"But to know that we have a bigger depth of squad is encouraging."