GREGOR: WE’VE SCOT TO GET 20 ON THE BOARD

Ireland v Scotland Tomorrow, 4.45pm

GREGOR TOWNSEND admits Scotland will have to “do something special” in Dublin tomorrow.

He challenged them to score at least 20 points against Ireland and give themselves a fighting chance of a first Triple Crown since 1990.

The Scots are heading to the Irish capital looking to save face after a shock defeat in Italy last weekend left them staring at the possibility of finishing fifth.

Head coach Townsend (top) is braced for a formidable test against a side the Scots have lost to in each of their last nine meetings – including a 36-14 defeat at the World Cup five months ago.

“We know how tough it’s going to be,” he said. “They’re one of the top two teams in the world and at home they’ve been virtually unbeatable the last few years so it’s going to require something special from our players.

“We’ve got to accept that they’ll score points on Saturday. I think before (losing 23-22 to) England they were averaging 30 points a game, so it will be a test for our defence, and we have to score points.

“We have to get to 20 or more, which will be tough but we believe we can do that against any team.”

Townsend conceded there is a sense of regret that Scotland – who have two wins out of four so far – are not heading to Ireland with a genuine chance of winning the title.

“The frustration is that we’re not going to Dublin on the back of four wins,” he said.

“We feel we had a win taken away from us against France, and obviously Italy deserved their win but we feel we could have been better that day.”