HORNE IS RELISHING OZ CLASH

Scotland back Peter Horne insists australia are back to their best after coming through a tough Rugby championship.

the Wallabies were very much second best in the southern hemisphere’s annual tournament, with new Zealand hammering them 42-8 in Sydney and 29-9 in Wellington, while they also lost 18-10 to South africa.

although they did dispose of argentina twice and the Springboks at home, questions were being asked about the quality of their current squad.

However, according to Horne, the aussies answered their critics in style against Wales at the weekend in their 32-8 triumph.

‘there has been a bit of negative press and criticism of them but just because you lose a couple of games against new Zealand, it doesn’t make you a bad side,’ said Horne, who is set to offer cover from the bench on Saturday.

‘they showed that at the weekend when they were outstanding.

‘Bernard Foley was brilliant, Israel Folau was back to his best, and they put away a really good Wales side.

‘It’ll be a really good test for us on Saturday, but then that’s why you play the game. You want to play the best players in the world and australia have some of the best players in the world.’

Horne (right) was part of the Scotland side that lost out in last year’s World cup quarterfinal against the Wallabies, although he did score a memorable try for Vern cotter’s men.

‘obviously, we were disappointed to be on the wrong side of the scoreboard during the World cup and coming back up to Glasgow on the train from london the next day, I realised that games like that make you hungrier for more,’ he continued.

‘It’s great that we’re getting another crack at them now.’

Horne returned to the Glasgow Warriors starting XV last weekend for the first time in five weeks after breaking a bone in his hand, although it was a chastening experience.

a comprehensive 27-3 defeat to the Scarlets wasn’t the best preparation for the fly-half, who can also play centre, but at least he managed some much-needed game time.

‘I got 80 minutes, which was invaluable because I probably wouldn’t have got a sniff for Scotland had I not played at the weekend for Glasgow,’ admitted Horne.

‘Fingers crossed that I can have a good week’s training and see what happens with selection. ‘I know I will have to improve as at the weekend against Scarlets the first try we conceded before half-time I’ll take on as my fault as we played with the ball for too long. I think we ran ten or 11 phases and I should have kicked two or three phases before that and put the pressure back on them.

‘also, I think in the first 20 minutes I was guilty of taking the ball quite flat and ended up carrying a lot more than I want to. I’ve been trying to sit a little bit deeper and get the ball through my hands.

‘You may think I am being too self-critical but that’s just the way I have been brought up. I always strive for perfection and I guess if you have high standards like that, you always have something to work on.’

Scotland assistant head coach Matt taylor lauded Horne for taking responsibility for his shortcomings.

‘Peter is very honest and he is very hard on himself,’ said taylor. ‘I think everyone has got aspects of their game they would like to improve but Pete’s normally pretty tough on himself, but we’d probably rather it that way than the other way.

‘He is probably one of the best guys in the group at Glasgow and Scotland in terms of going away and doing his work, not only on the field, but after and before with his analysis.

‘last week, we had a defence meeting and he was the one answering most of the questions, so I knew when I was firing out the questions who had done more work.

‘It is a great attribute of his and probably the reason why he is such a good player.’