JONNY GRAY was as frustrated as his teammates with the chances missed in Dublin on Saturday in Scotland’s opening fixture of the Six Nations.
And with England visiting Murrayfield this Saturday, the lock is under no illusions as to how tough a challenge he and his compatriots will face when they face the World Cup finalists, particularly with England coming off the back of defeat to France in their opening fixture.
“It will be a challenge for everyone,” Gray said of Saturday’s game.
“You just look at how well England have played over the last couple of years - and how they played in the World Cup. They’re such a good team, a world class side.
“You look at the players they have and the strength in depth they have. They’re well-coached as well. All over the pitch, the pack they have and the backs they have, it’s going to be a huge challenge.
“They’ll be disappointed with their result against France at the weekend but when you look at the difference between the first half and the second half, and how they got themselves back in the game, we know how tough it will be.”
However, there were also encouraging signs from the Scottish team in Dublin, and Gray is confident that they can bounce back from the disappointment, with a good performance the goal as the side train in Edinburgh this week and look ahead to England’s visit.
“We have to train well, look at the game and take the learnings we need to from there,” he said.
“There was a lot of frustration in the review.
“But we need to move on and focus on this week and that’s started.
“There have been a lot of good honest conversations. The culture in the squad is massively strong, we’ve said that from day one. We have to be really connected as a team. I think that’s what so good about this team and environment, how close the guys are.
“There was a lot of honest feedback and boys took it on board.”
But if there is one thing that must improve this weekend, it is the breakdown, with Gray admitting watching the footage from last weekend has not been pleasant viewing.
“Watching the video was pretty tough,” he said.
“Credit to Ireland, they made it tough for us and deserved the win at the end. We know we need to be better and more clinical.”
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