Scotland are well aware of recent poor record against Ireland

When the sides meet in Paris this Saturday it will be on the wave of eight successive wins for the green machine. The run began in 2018

BRAINS TRUST: Head coach Gregor Townsend with his staff during the Scotland captain's run. Pic: INPHO/Billy Stickland

John Barclay had an impressively crisp and concise grasp of what had just happened, and why, for a guy who was just emerging from an 80-minute shift in the pell-mell of a Six Nations game in front of over 50,000 people.

Scotland travelled to Dublin five years ago on the back of bravura wins against England and France. The Ireland team they were playing was on the way to a perfect calendar year that would include a Grand Slam and a defeat of the All Blacks, but no-one knew that then.