PEAK AND DESTROY
Horne reckons Scotland are closing in on complete performance
PETE HORNE believes Scotland are close to putting in a complete Six Nations performance.
And the assistant boss reckons Saturday’s match against Italy could be just the time to deliver one.
The Scots still have an outside chance of winning the title with two games to go. But Horne insists they are not looking any further ahead than Rome against a team who came within inches of stunning France last time out.
The Italians were left frustrated when, with the last kick of the game, Paolo Garbisi’s conversion attempt came back off a post and they only drew 13-13. So the home side will also be expecting an improved performance in the Stadio Olimpico as they look for a first win in this season’s championship.
Scotland also thought they should have beaten France instead of losing narrowly.
And although they did defeat Wales and England, they were below their best for big chunks of both games.
But ex-Glasgow stand-off Horne has seen enough in all three matches to convince him there is still a lot more to come from the team.
He said: “Absolutely – and the boys feel that too. “We’re pretty happy with where we’re at. We’re right in the mix and should be three from three.
“We can’t be disappointed with that but we definitely feel that we’ve left a lot of opportunities out there. We missed a few opportunities against Wales and let them come right back into the game, then didn’t have that real conviction to get the bonus point at the end.
“Against England there was a 10-minute blip between the 60th and 70th minute where we missed three or four stonewall chances to show exactly what we are.
“It’s a good place to be. We’re getting some decent results but we’re still not playing quite at our potential.
“The boys know we’ve still achieved nothing yet. We’ve not achieved the things we want to do.
“Everyone’s got a real steely determination to go out and have a good result against Italy and then we look ahead after that. Nobody is talking about Ireland or the championship or anything. It’s very much laser focus on Italy.”
Asked what a complete performance would look like, Horne added: “It’s just being a little more clinical.
“We want to come alive. We don’t want to just settle, saying, ‘We’ve got a 10-point lead here, knock the ball down the park.’
“It showed against France that you can’t do that. You have to still take your chances, as the opposition will always have moments in games. At the moment we are probably letting too many chances go compared to the ones we are taking.”
Scotland will be without a key player, Warriors centre Sione Tuipulotu.
But there could be a readymade replacement in Cam Redpath, who came off the bench against England and plays alongside stand-off Finn Russell at Bath.
Horne said: “Cam was outstanding off the bench against England. He’s been pushing the boys who have been starting really hard. “Cam’s having a great season. He and Finn are going really well together at Bath. Speaking to their coaches, I know Cam is very highly regarded there.
“He’s just got something about him. He’s a Testmatch animal and he’s got real X Factor.
“If he gets the nod this weekend we’ll all be really excited to see him play.”