Rugby-Scotland look for consistency as Wallabies await
FILE PHOTO: Rugby Union - Six Nations Championship - Italy v Scotland - Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy - March 12, 2022 Scotland's Grant Gilchrist in action with Italy's Federico Ruzza during a lineout REUTERS/Ciro De Luca
EDINBURGH : Scotland lock Grant Gilchrist said he and his team mates were looking for an improvement in consistency as they begin a run of four successive home tests over the next month, starting with Australia at Murrayfield on Saturday.
Scotland finished fourth in this year’s Six Nations, despite starting the tournament with a home win over England, and then lost a three-test series in Argentina when their hosts kicked over a last-gasp penalty in the final international.
Matches against the Wallabies, followed by Fiji on Nov. 5, New Zealand on Nov. 13 and Argentina on Nov. 19, offer Scotland the chance to finish the year strongly and gain confidence going into next year’s Six Nations and World Cup.
“I think we've shown in most games we've played, if not all the games we've played, that when we're right at it, and when we get our best version of ourselves in attack and defence, we're good enough to beat any team,” said Gilchrist, who captained the Scots in Argentina in mid-year.
“But our consistency hasn't been good enough and so that's what we're working towards. That’s what you do through training and games,” he told a virtual news conference.
“There's going to be key moments where we have to be really good and really ruthless. And you can look through the last years, there were big moments that went against us where we needed to be better in those pressure situations.”
Scotland have won their past three internationals against the Wallabies, one at Sydney and two at Murrayfield, including a 15-13 win this time last year.
“I'm sure they'll be gunning for us with that feeling of they owe us one, so we will make sure we're ready for that,” added the 32-year-old Gilchrist.
“We've had some exceptional performances against them over the last few years. And it takes that, because they’re a top-class team with top-class coaches and players, so we're under no illusions that we can just expect to rock up and win.
“It has to be our best performance and we've managed to deliver that our last few times against them. But that doesn't just happen,” he warned.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Clare Fallon)
