“It could have been a little bit better but Grand Slams are unbelievably hard to come by. Six Nations are hard enough, as everyone would vouch for.”
Scotland suffered a shock 31-29 defeat in Rome last Saturday against Italy, which leaves Gregor Townsend’s side third in the standings heading into the final round.
Townsend is looking for his side to bounce back this afternoon.
“There is a determination to be better. It is tough going through the reviews [when you lose]. But the players have been aligned about where we can improve, and there is no better challenge than Ireland away.
“We have shown the best parts of ourselves in this championship at times, but we have also let our concentration slip and if we do that at the weekend we are not going to come away with a win.”
Last year Ireland beat Scotland 22-7 at Murrayfield on their way to winning the Grand Slam. The omens are not on Scotland’s side this afternoon; Ireland have won the past nine meetings. The last time Scotland won in Dublin was back in 2010. Ireland have won 11 of their 12 home Six Nations games against Scotland.
These two sides met at the World Cup back in October, which Ireland ran out easy 36-14 winners as Scotland were knocked out in the group stages.