Laidlaw: Poite doesn’t seem to like us

SCOTLAND captain Greig Laidlaw claimed French referee Romain Poite “doesn’t seem to like” Scotland after the Scots lost to Ireland in their second Six Nations fixture.

Laidlaw said Scotland would not “blame” Poite for the defeat but appeared to be unhappy with the French official.

“He doesn’t seem to like us, Romain,” the scrum-half said. “(Poite) picked us up in the middle of the field, Sean O’Brien’s reefed the ball out and he’s given a knock-on, and it’s right in front of him.”

Poite was in charge as Gregor Townsend’s side lost narrowly to South Africa in November.

The Frenchman has also overseen major Scottish triumphs, including a victory over Ireland in this fixture two years ago, and a remarkable 9-8 win against Australia in 2009.

“He refereed us against South Africa as well and we don’t seem to see eyeto-eye. We’re not going to blame him, we look at ourselves, and credit to Ireland,” Laidlaw added.

Scotland head coach Townsend says his team’s handling errors and lack of accuracy in the second half are “on my head”.

“I felt we dominated that first half, a lot of that was through how we defended as well as how we attacked – it’s a message for our players that we can play at that level and create more opportunities,” he said.

“We just didn’t kick on in the second half, it was pretty flat for both teams, the energy dropped, we were disappointed with the execution – that’s on my head as a coach.

“There’s so much effort the players put in, but just that accuracy that’s required to beat the top teams, that needs to be over 80 minutes, not 40.

“I believe in this squad, I believe with whoever we have selected from our wider group come two weeks’ time in the Stade de France, that we can go there and win against France.”