PETER HORNE HAS warned Ireland that Scotland will be out to end their Six Nations title dreams when they meet at Murrayfield on Saturday.
Joe Schmidt’s holders entered the championship as favourites to retain their crown but, after suffering an opening weekend 32-20 home defeat by England, they now travel to Edinburgh with those aspirations hanging by a thread.
Scotland kicked off their tournament with a five-try bonus-point win over Italy and Horne knows that with trips to Paris and Twickenham to come, Gregor Townsend’s side cannot afford a slip-up at home.
However, the Glasgow centre believes it will be the visitors who will be under most strain at Murrayfield and says Scotland are determined to exploit the wounds left by their first Dublin defeat since November 2016.
“Ireland will be feeling a bit of the pressure,” said Horne. “We put ourselves under pressure too, but I guess it will be in the back of their minds that if we beat them, their title dreams are gone.
“At the same time we will feel pretty similar, so we’ll look to fly into them.”
“They will be looking for a massive reaction, which makes them dangerous,” he added. “They will be looking to prove last weekend’s defeat was just a bump in the road.”
Horne sat out the Italy clash with a knee injury but admits he may have to settle for a seat on the bench after watching Glasgow teammate Sam Johnson impress on his Test debut.
“It says a lot about the depth we’ve have in the centres when we have a lot of guys out injured that a debutant comes in and plays like that,” he said.
“You have to take your chance when you get it, whether that’s 20 minutes off the bench or being 24th man helping the team get ready,” he added. “When you do get a starting jersey, you have to put everything into it.”
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