Off The Ball spoke to James Downey about the prospects for John Cooney after his introduction during Ireland-Scotland.

The Ulster scrum-half was introduced for the last quarter of the 19-12 win, marking Andy Farrell's debut with the best result.

"It was a fragmented second half at times. Anyone who saw the game would be frustrated by the second half," said Downey.

"Cooney might have liked a little bit more game time, as the kicking was coming into the game a little bit more.

"When he did come on, everything he did, he did well. It was a very assured performance from him.

"There were a couple of box kicks over, looking for space in the background - I thought it was impressive from him when he came on.

"It was a bit of a stop-start game, but he tried to bring a tempo."

Should John Cooney start?

Downey believes that Cooney will count himself unfortunate as to have not started, but believes that it is not far away.

"He is doing everything he can - that is all you can do.

"I think his performances have warranted his inclusion, he has been really, really pushing Conor [Murray].

"I would like to have seen him given more game time tonight as I don't think we can go down that route of relying on Conor so much that his replacement only gets five or ten minutes here or there.

"He was very unlucky not to start but you could hear the crowd when he came on. The team needed a boost and he gave the boost.

"He is one of those players that when he comes on he brings a lot of tempo to his game."

Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!

Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.