GRANT’S UP FOR THE CHALLENGE
GRANT GILCHRIST has told his Scotland team-mates they must embrace the pressure of taking on Ireland in Saturday’s Six Nations finale.
The Dark Blues need a positive response in Dublin as they bid to banish “a dark couple of days” following their damaging defeat in Italy last weekend.
The Scots have been heavily criticised after losing 31-29 in Rome and squandering the chance to set up a title shoot out with Andy Farrell’s Irish side.
Gregor Townsend’s players are now chasing a face-saving result away to one of the best sides in world rugby r to avoid potentially finishing as low as fifth in the championship.
“We should feel under pressure,” said veteran second-rower Gilchrist.
“Every time you put on the jersey you should feel under pressure.
“Through our own play we’ve set the bar a lot higher than any other Scotland team that I’ve ever been part of and that pressure is a privilege.
“It’s a privilege to wear the jersey, it’s a privilege to play in a team that’s good enough to be expecting to get huge results and to win all these big games.
“We’re not going to shy away from pressure. It comes with big games and big moments. That’s why we play the game.
“We know the strength of the opposition — Ireland are arguably the best team in the world at the minute.
“With their home record, you can’t pick a tougher test but that’s a huge excitement for us.
“We know we’re going to have to be at our very best, but that’s what we strive to be anyway.
“We need to embrace the pressure, embrace the challenge — I don’t think there’s any bigger challenge – and go out and deliver a performance.”
Tough
Gilchrist (33), admitted the defeat in Rome was a tough one to swallow.
He added: “It was a dark couple of days after the game in Rome.
“No one cares more than the guys in that changing room and we’re devastated with how the game went and the opportunity we.
“It’s not a case of being able to move on too quickly, but we had a really good day at the start of the week going through it and the players taking a lot more responsibility.
“It was on us to look at solutions and come up with a plan so that we could put it behind us.
“And it was great to get out on the grass on Tuesday and start putting things in place.”