BARCLAY'S BLANK
Skipper says focus is on depositing points from Ireland game in their account before title talk
JOHN BARCLAY says Scotland have banned Six Nations title talk ahead of a clash with Ireland in Dublin which could open the door to securing the Championship.
The Dark Blues skipper refused to discus the scenarios which could arrive from a win for Gregor Townsend’s men.
It’s been eight years since the Scots last won in Dublin and Barclay prefers to focus on bringing an end to that horror run rather than dwell on the maths if he leads the team to a rare win on the road.
Success over Joe Schmidt’s team would carry Scotland into a final match in Italy with a chance of lifting the Six Nations trophy for the first time but the captain steered the conversation towards the immediate task.
He said: “We are 100 per cent focused on beating Ireland and even if we do win I haven’t looked at the maths.
“They have a Grand Slam to think about too so we will let them worry about that and we’ll think about this game.
“I’ve not heard an Irish player talk about it. I’d be surprised if they did as it is something you don’t talk about.
“If you are in a position in week five to talk about that, hats off to you. There will always be whispers of that as they are the only unbeaten team and we are going into week four. People are going to talk about that but it does not lend itself to be ammunition for us.”
Irish legend Brian O’Driscoll’s remarks this week that Scotland won’t merit respect as a credible Six Nations force until they start winning away from home is something Barclay refused to bite back at. He said: “That is fair comment, the record speaks for itself.
“We had a good win in Australia in the summer so of course you need to win away from home. It would be nice to prove him wrong but it won’t be motivation for us just because somebody called us homers. Ultimately the teams that do well in this competition have to do well away from home. It’s something we’ve looked at.
“I am sure we are not the only team to find winning away difficult because the record of wins home and away for most teams is pretty stark in the Six Nations.
“There is a thing about home advantage. It is bizarre and if I had the answer it wouldn’t be an issue. All I can say is we must correct it.
“We won in Australia which we hadn’t done in a number of years and ultimately it is 15 guys going up against one another on a piece of grass. Whoever is more accurate and plays better wins.
“But look we’re going to go into this weekend with the same approach as against England. “If we play with that intensity and accuracy we’ll be in a good position.”
Barclay also feels it could be an ugly battle with our Celtic cousins.
He said: “It is going to be physical, attritional and there will be a bit of niggle but that is the bit everybody enjoys.
“We play aggressive rugby, throw the ball around and play with tempo. The difference between week one and this week is the accuracy by which we have done that.
“The start of the tournament was far from ideal in Wales but we beat France then the England game was fantastic.
“We have stayed true to how we play the game, we haven’t changed. The guys are buzzing and they know the opportunity we have. But we’re also realistic about it and know how hard a challenge beating Ireland in Ireland is.”
The Saracens star is the sole survivor from the last time the Scots won in Dublin. He admits that 23-20 success was so long ago he prefers to focus on making new memories rather than rewind to 2010 and that Croke Park triumph.
He said: “Eight years is a long time. It’s the last time we won there so it will be highlighted but I don’t think it has that much significance going into this game.”
The key to overcoming the side ranked third in the world could be replicating the high-tempo display which earned a win over the Irish at Murrayfield last season.
He said: “We have looked a little bit at that game last year and about how we won it, were there bits and pieces we can use? We think there are but they are a different team.”
Barclay is also sure the Scottish public is now buying into the Dark Blues side. He said: “The support has been fantastic and there is a real excitement about this week.
“I could see that in Edinburgh and down in Wales. People were excited for us so I feel the goodwill.”
It will be physical and there’ll be a bit of niggle but that’s the bit we all enjoy JOHN BARCLAY