Irish in Dublin is the ultimate challenge
Toony admits it will take inspired display for Scots to triumph
GREGOR TOwnsEnd reckons scotland will need their best performance of the season tomorrow if they’re to end a frustrating six nations campaign on a high.
The Scots, who have already beaten England and Wales, will win the Triple Crown for the first time since 1990 if they triumph in Dublin.
And they still have a mathematical chance of winning the Championship itself if they win by a massive margin.
But that is hugely unlikely against an Ireland side who are still red-hot favourites for the title and have won the last nine games between the sides.
Things would have been different if Scotland had held on to win against Italy and been awarded a try in the last play of the game against France – something that would’ve given them the win.
And Townsend knows the pressure is on his side – and himself – to prove they are getting better.
He said: “The frustration is that we’re not going to Dublin on the back of four wins. 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.
“We have this game ahead of us to show our best performance of the season.
“We’re still playing for something – not just a place in the table, it’s for a trophy. And also we’re playing one of the best teams in the world, so that’s got to inspire us to deliver our best rugby. We know how tough it’s going to be. They’re one of the top two teams in the world and at home have been virtually unbeatable, so it’s going to require something special from our players.
“It’s the ultimate challenge in the game right now. The huge motivator for us is to try and deliver our best rugby of the season.
“They have a big advantage over us in that they’ve beaten us and have evidence on how to beat Scotland. And that’s a big challenge for us.
“But this team has shown they can produce a massive performance regardless of what has gone on in history. We need to deliver a performance the guys have been working on the last few weeks.”
Despite the disappointment of the 31-29 defeat in Rome, Townsend has only made two changes to his starting line-up.
Ben White returns at scrumhalf, replacing Glasgow’s George Horne, who drops to the bench while his Edinburgh rival Ali Price misses out.
Stafford McDowall also takes over the No.13 jersey from Cameron Redpath.
Townsend hopes Warriors centre McDowall’s size – 6ft 4in and over 16 stone – will be a big asset in what is sure to be a fiercely physical battle.
He added: “His cohesion with Huw ( Jones) means they should hit it off like they have been doing at club level.”
In the front row, Warriors stalwart Zander Fagerson is set to become the most-capped prop in Scotland’s history with his 67th appearance.