Six Nations: Scotland face 'different beast' in Ireland after England win - Sean Maitland
- Published
Sean Maitland finished off a memorable move against England to score his eighth Test try
Six Nations: Ireland v Scotland |
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Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Saturday, 10 March Kick-off: 14:15 GMT |
Coverage: Live on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio Scotland & BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app, plus live text commentary. |
Wing Sean Maitland insists there is no complacency as Scotland prepare to tackle a "different beast" in unbeaten Six Nations rivals Ireland.
Maitland admits the Scots are still "buzzing" from last week's memorable victory over England at Murrayfield.
But, with Scotland winning only six of 46 Six Nations away games since 2000, Maitland accepts Saturday's Dublin trip will be an "even bigger challenge".
"We are not resting on our laurels. We are not getting complacent," he said.
"We will take a lot of confidence from the game, but we know this is a different beast.
"We are still buzzing, but yesterday we did the 'listens' [review] and we saw lots to improve on.
"We are still looking to get that extra 5% to improve our game, because it is going to be an even bigger challenge this weekend.
"There was a bit of an edge to our training yesterday, from the whole squad of 40 players, which was great to see."
Scotland began the tournament with high hopes of ending a 16-year losing run in Cardiff but were humbled 34-7 before reviving their campaign with home wins over France and England.
Apart from four victories in Rome, their only Six Nations away wins came in Cardiff in 2002 and Dublin in 2010.
Ireland v Scotland in Six Nations - last 10 years | |
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2017: Scotland 27-22 Ireland | 2012: Ireland 32-14 Scotland |
2016: Ireland 35-25 Scotland | 2011: Scotland 18-21 Ireland |
2015: Scotland 10-40 Ireland | 2010: Ireland 20-23 Scotland |
2014: Ireland 28-6 Scotland | 2009: Scotland 15-22 Ireland |
2013: Scotland 12-8 Ireland | 2008: Ireland 34-13 Scotland |
"I wouldn't say we struggle away," Maitland added. "We were really disappointed with the first game [against Wales], but people forget this team went over to Australia and beat them in Sydney. That was not even a year ago.
"It is probably more the fact that our Six Nations [away] form is not the best. But it is a fresh week and the boys have got a really big edge about them.
"We are working really hard and it was a great session this morning as well.
"We know the challenge ahead; it is going to be really tough. We need every aspect of our game in order."
After winning all three games so far, Ireland are bidding for a third Six Nations title in five years, and a third ever Grand Slam, with their last clean sweep coming in 2009.
- Published28 February 2018
