Kellock: Scotland out to spoil Irish party

Alastair Kellock today warned Ireland that Scotland will travel to Dublin this weekend determined to spoil the party in the last ever RBS 6 Nations game at Croke Park.

Ireland are striving to end their three-year stay at the headquarters of the GAA by landing their fifth Triple Crown in the last seven years.

But Scotland lock Kellock is just as desperate to help his own country upset the odds and claim the victory that would almost certainly spare them the wooden spoon.

“We’re not going over there to take part in any ceremonies, whether it’s the Triple Crown or whether it’s the last game at Croke Park,” the Glasgow captain said.

“We need to go over there and focus purely on ourselves and playing the best rugby that we can.

“In saying that, it’s a fantastic place to play.

“We play in some of the best arenas in the world in the Six Nations and it’s an opportunity to play in front of a huge crowd.

“It’s a game that as a player you want to give absolutely everything to be involved in.”

While Ireland still have an outside chance of retaining their Six Nations crown, Scotland go into Saturday’s match having failed to win any of their four games so far.

“We’ve been desperate to get the win all through the championship,” said Kellock, who insists Andy Robinson’s men are on the brink of turning what have been encouraging performances into victories.

“We’ve given absolutely everything we can.

“We need to find the extras, work on them, and get that cutting edge.

“When we find that cutting edge, I think it’ll stay with us.

“It’s not an easy thing to put into a team but, once they’ve got it, it’s a difficult thing to take out a team.”

As well as overcoming their “white-line fever”, Scotland will also need to cut out the needless penalties which have cost them just as dearly.

Defence coach Graham Steadman was scathing in his criticism of his side yesterday and Kellock had no complaints over the former Great Britain rugby league international’s assessment.

“It’s just got to be hammered and hammered and hammered again,” said the 28-year-old, who will earn his 25th cap – and first against Ireland – this weekend.

“It’s not just coming from the coaches.

“We’ve got to make sure we’re policing it ourselves.

“In saying that, an international game is full of pressure and, at times, you make bad decisions.

“We’ve got to make sure we keep them to a minimum and we’ve got to force the pressure onto the opposition so that they make bad decisions and they start making mistakes as well.”

Scotland have also been penalised too often for collapsing scrums, something for which their players and coaches insist the opposition are to blame.

“It’s a difficult thing to comment on from the second row – I just push as hard as I can,” said Kellock, who feels referee Marius Jonker struggled to make the correct calls in Saturday’s Calcutta Cup draw at Murrayfield.

“The referee wasn’t always 100% sure what was going on or he would’ve yellow carded.

“We want a fair battle in that area, we’ve got a good pack, a good front row, so we want to be keeping it up.

“If there’s an obvious infringement by somebody then the referee has to deal with it.

“But you don’t want referees guessing.”

Having been on the fringes of the Test scene for so long, Saturday sees Kellock complete a full house of Six Nations starts for the first time.

“It’s been disappointing not to get a win but it’s been great to get the nod every week so far,” he said.

“I’ve just got to make sure I go in against Ireland and play to the best of my ability.”