Stuart McInally accepts Scotland will have to make major improvements again if they are to wreck France’s grand slam bid at Murrayfield.
While Les Bleus are heading to Edinburgh in two weeks’ time looking to take another step towards a Six Nations clean sweep, the Scots are just relieved to be off the mark following victory over Italy in Rome. Gregor Townsend’s team were far from slick but did finally grab their first tries of the tournament after registering blanks in defeat to both Ireland and England.
Skipper Stuart Hogg scored the try of the tournament so far with a 50-yard solo run, while Chris Harris and Adam Hastings added a shine to a 17-0 shut-out win with second-half scores. But, having also let at least another three big opportunities to really punish the Azzurri slip, McInally admitted a repeat of their display will not be enough to stop the French.
“There was a bit of relief in the changing room after the game,” he said. “We’ve got the monkey off our back and managed to get our first win in the tournament. But it was also about proving to ourselves. We didn’t play our best rugby out there but we were pretty clinical at times. Our defence was excellent in not conceding a point and we were able to throw the ball around against a side who got a few points against France.
“Italy are a dangerous side, especially at home and we were pleased to keep them to zero. Are there more improvements to come? Oh, we can be so much better. That wasn’t our finest display by a mile. I feel like we won and that is the main thing – but we have got to be better over the next few weeks to be sure.
“France have been excellent so far and it will be a massive game in two weeks. But we’re looking forward to getting back to Murrayfield and giving it our best shot. We’ve got two games left and we’re going for two wins. We’ll back ourselves against anyone at Murrayfield. We know how big a challenge it will be against France with the form they are in. We played them not long ago and managed to beat them at home and we’ll be confident of doing that again.”