Scotland have one win from three matches in this year’s six nations rugby championship – but defence coach Graham Steadman believes his team is still in the title race.
Steadman, the former Ireland defence coach, hopes to put his inside knowledge of his former team to good use by helping the Scots halt the Irish juggernaut when it rolls into Murrayfield on Saturday.
Ireland are on three wins from three – but when asked if Scotland are still in with a chance of winning the championship, Steadman said: “Definitely – and if we win on Saturday and results elsewhere go our way then it could be a thrilling last round of matches.
“The French beat Wales against the odds in Paris and England came very close to beating Ireland. We may have lost, but I feel we were the better team in France and if we can execute as well as we did against Italy then we can get another win.
“Ireland’s new defence coach Les Kiss has very similar principles to what I’ve got with regards to their system, but what is important is the players who are selected this week go out and front up in a Scotland shirt.
“Ireland will travel to Murrayfield with a lot of confidence, so in order to stem that flow of confidence we must front up and get in their faces. I can give them all the information they require, but they’ve got to go out and execute it.”
Steadman believes the Scots can upset the odds if they cut out their recent trend of conceding needless penalties. As defence coach, Steadman has been keeping a keen eye on the statistics and has been unimpressed by what he has seen so far.
He added: “I’m not too happy with the fact we’ve conceded 38 penalties to date and, of those, 22 were kickable offences.
“It’s something we need to tighten up on.”
Scotland find themselves in a favourable position going into the Ireland game with the return of Jim Hamilton, Nathan Hines and Rory Lamont, allowing the coaches to select from a full-strength squad.
Scotland will welcome back the three players who missed the win against Italy after they joined their team-mates for training yesterday.
Hamilton was suffering from a shoulder injury while a knee injury kept Hines out of the previous game.
An ankle injury had ruled out Lamont.
Steadman welcomed the news and believes it will strengthen the squad.
Steadman said: “To have the likes of Rory, Nathan and Jim back is a massive boost for the whole set-up. The early call on Jim Hamilton is very positive. With Nathan, we will see how he does after the session.
“Nathan being the experienced pro he is will give us the honesty call post-session regarding how he has come through it.”
Steadman has admitted Sale back Lamont is slightly further away to a start than his forward duo, but has not ruled him out of being involved in Saturday.
He said: “The fact Rory is training with us this week is a boost.
“It will be interesting to see how far down the track he is in terms of his levels of his fitness.
“We have three quality players back training with the squad and that has has given everyone a lift.”