Gilchrist back to his best thanks to boss Cockerill
SCOTLAND second row Grant Gilchrist has been pleased with the performance of the pack in the last two Six Nations matches but knows they will have to step things up to compete with Ireland on Saturday.
The Scots head to Dublin looking to win there for the first time in eight years and the 21-cap Edinburgh enforcer knows it will be another huge battle at the breakdown.
He said: “We do well at Murrayfield, but playing the style of rugby that we do, the biggest challenge is to do it in Dublin against the team top of the table.
“Ireland at the breakdown are a different proposition. They attack the ball and clear breakdowns really hard. We’ll need to be better in that area when we’ve got the ball. Our speed to contact is going to be crucial, how we clear these guys out.
“It’s a threat England didn’t have that Ireland probably do.”
It has been a strange few years for Gilchrist, 27. In the autumn of 2014 he was named Scotland captain by then head coach Vern Cotter only to suffer a broken arm which led to a tough time with injuries.
He was not picked for Gregor Townsend’s first squad last summer, but was back in for the Autumn Tests and he believes he is now playing some of the best rugby of his career.
“I’m playing as well as I ever have,” he said. “There are a lot of things I can still do better, but in terms of consistency this is the best season I’ve had.
“Missing the summer tour was a real blessing in disguise as it gave me an opportunity to start preseason with a new head coach at Edinburgh who I needed to prove a lot to, it reset my whole mindset.
“I wanted to prove to Richard Cockerill that I was good enough to play for Edinburgh, and when I got playing for Edinburgh, I wanted to prove to Gregor that I was good enough to play for Scotland.
“It was refreshing to start at zero as before things were getting clouded in my head. Richard came in and threw down the gauntlet and I responded well. The way he’s managed me has got me back into good form for club and country.”