Scotland coach Dan McFarland is confident side are on the up

Forwards coach Dan McFarland is confident Scotland are on their way to matching Ireland's standards.

The Irish beat the Scots 28-8 on Saturday and were confirmed as Six Nations winners later that day when England lost to France.

Gregor Townsend's Scotland finish their campaign away to Italy on Saturday.

"Clearly that is the next step for us, to chew out the wins in those away games when it's really tough - we'll get there," said McFarland.

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"Ireland have won four of their games so far, they're going for a Grand Slam next weekend.

"They're the level that the rest of us in the Six Nations are aspiring to.

"We had a number of opportunities and were profligate.

"There's certainly a bit of hard bitten experience in there that teams, like Ireland, who've been working at this and on a road for a good while, that we can all see that development. I think Gregor said it, they're a little bit further down the track than us."

Hooker Fraser Brown, who returned to the Scotland team as a replacement in Dublin after missing the opening three games, agrees that Ireland have made winning a "habit".

Brown (centre) won his 30th cap in Dublin

"You have to get used to winning and then when you're used to winning, even when you don't play well, you seem to find a way to win," said the Edinburgh player,

"Some people call it a mental block but it's not, it's just habit and consistency comes from habit and vice versa."

Meanwhile, McFarland insists this week and the weekend trip to Rome are not just about enjoying the end of the championship for Scotland, saying.

"It's about winning a Test match," he said. "It's about winning our third game in the championship, it's about focusing on going to Italy and playing against a proud nation, who obviously desperately want to win a match in the championship this year.

"There are threats there and we're fully aware of them. They have a good tradition of forward play. They've got some class players. We'll have our eyes firmly on the ball, there."