Ross Miller says the Scotland coaching staff are encouraging their team to enjoy the occasion and fully embrace the challenge they face in Saturday’s do-or-die final World Cup Qualifying tournament match against Ireland.
Having shown admirable mental toughness to bounce back from demoralising 38-13 loss to Italy in their opening match last Monday with an excellent 27-22 win over Spain on Sunday, the Scots will either qualify directly for next year’s tournament in New Zealand or progress to a final qualifying tournament at a date to be announced.
If they lose then their long wait to make a World Cup appearance, which stretches back to 2010, will be extended for another three/four years. It is a high-pressure situation, but assistant coach Miller says he has complete faith in the players’ ability to take the strain.
“Everyone is feeling great, it is a cup final weekend for us as a group and everyone is in a good place,” he said. “Physically we are recovering, but mentally it is all to play for, so the players had a day away from rugby today [Wednesday] to get their feet up and just enjoy the week as we prepare for a big match.
“I think you’ll have seen from the Six Nations that when we do have the opportunity to play back-to-back games we do improve,” he added. “There was a massive momentum shift in the first half of the Spain game that gave us confidence going into the second half and that is what we have been wanting as a group.
“We look for improvements every time we play, and we are getting those improvements. There are things we aren’t totally happy about and we will keep working on them ahead of Ireland and we will push for perfection and try and kick on every time we play.
“The players are fully aware of the situation, and it is all about staying calm, making sure we control the controllables, and doing what we know we have to do.”
Based on recent form, Ireland will start Saturday’s match as favourites, but Miller argues that this is a standalone fixture.
“You have seen from all the games over the last two weeks, form does go out of the window. Spain were in the driving seat, needing a win over us, going for their second win, but we were able to stop that.
“Anything can happen over the final weekend so we will prepare properly and fully, leaving no stone unturned. We will do everything we can to be ready.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here