Former Lions captain Brian O’Driscoll insists Ireland have to smarten up if they are to put their RBS 6 Nations campaign back on track against Scotland on Sunday.
Ireland have endeavoured to play a more attack orientated game in recent matches but have been undone by sloppy mistakes.
They edged past Italy, thanks to a Ronan O'Gara drop-goal at the death, and fell to a home defeat against France.
Now three-tour Lion O'Driscoll has called on his team to be streetwise as they look to kick-start their Championship at Murrayfield.
"Much as we want to play a running game, we must also play smart," said the Ireland captain.
"We've probably been guilty of not kicking the ball as much as we could have, but we're on the right road."
The re-call of O'Gara to the starting XV, in the place of Jonathan Sexton, indicates Ireland will play a kicking game. But O'Driscoll reckons they have to mix it up.
"If you only play one type of game the opposition do their analysis and you become easy to stop," added O'Driscoll.
"You must have variety, mix it up and constantly keep defences guessing. It's a case of tweaking the balance of the game we're trying to play.
"Sometimes you can kick to attack and sometimes you can run out of defence, it's about picking the right options at the right times."
