Gregor Townsend admits Scotland should produce biggest show of his tenure if they’re to clinch Six Nations title triumph on Super Saturday

Gregor Townsend insists Scotland need to deliver the greatest performance of his time in charge if they are to clinch Six Nations glory in Dublin.

Townsend’s side go into Super Saturday having to beat Ireland at The Aviva, while hoping England do them a favour against France in Paris.

The Scots have not won in Dublin since 2010 and Townsend has never beaten Ireland in 11 previous attempts as head coach.

However, for the first time in the Six Nations era, they enter the final round of fixtures with a chance of winning the championship.

Townsend hailed last week’s stunning win over the French as the finest of his nine years at the helm. Admitting that his team will need to raise their game even further, he said: ‘It’s a standalone fixture and it’s our last opportunity to play together in the championship.

‘But we do know the opponent have had a great run against us. So it’s a massive challenge.

Gregor Townsend helps his team prepare ahead of Saturday’s seismic clash in Dublin

‘For me, this was the toughest game of the season when we saw the draw – Ireland, with a strong record at home, and their record over us.

‘They’re always in the top three in the world. I think they still are there. So it’s going to require our best performance in the championship so far to win.

‘We’re playing away from home, which is a big challenge in itself, and we’re playing against a top-quality side.

‘Over the past few years, Ireland have played well against us and we’ve not always played well.

‘Sometimes we have, two years ago in particular, we played very well, but Ireland seem to play really well against us.

‘We get that observation that we play really well against England. Ireland seem to play very well against us.

‘They’re a top side. Their performance against England was one of the standout performances of this year’s championship.

‘If they deliver that, which we’re expecting them to do, we’re going to have to be very, very good to win.’

With the odds stacked against Scotland, and France ultimately masters of their own destiny in the later game, Townsend insisted his team can play with a sense of freedom.

Townsend is a picture of concentration as he launches a ball during Scotland training

‘It’s out of our hands really,’ he said. ‘We can only do a certain amount, and that’s good in a way, too.

‘It’s a game for us to play, against an opponent that’s had the upper hand on us for years.

‘We’re playing them away from home, they’ve got a brilliant record at home, so it’s a real opportunity, a challenge.

‘But also an opportunity for us to go and deliver an even better performance than we did last week.

‘These are things you don’t need to talk about with the players because they’re very much aware of it.’

Townsend insisted that his team will need to keep their emotions in check during what could be a fraught fixture against the Irish.

‘In my experience, I remember going to Dublin with Glasgow, our first final, and we probably had too much emotion going into that game,’ he recalled.

‘We started on fire but that emotional energy burnt a lot of our physical energy out by the final quarter of the game.

‘The second year we got that opportunity, we were much calmer.

‘I think this group are aware of what’s at stake but they’re very calm around the game right now.’