Scotland captain Chris Cusiter is adamant they can end their winless run in this season's Six Nations by denying Ireland the Triple Crown here on Saturday.
The Scots enter the tournament's final round of matches still seeking an elusive first victory after last week's 15-15 draw with England followed narrow away defeats by Wales (31-24) and Italy (16-12) in a competition they started with an 18-9 defeat by now unbeaten leaders France.
"I am absolutely 100 percent confident that we're capable of beating them (Ireland) but we have to play our best game in the championship," scrum-half Cusiter told reporters here on Friday.
"With one game to go it's a huge opportunity. I'm frustrated and I know a lot of people are frustrated with the way the other games have gone, because we have had great opportunities to get wins especially on the road down in Wales and in Italy and last week at home.
"We picked up a draw but we had enough possession to win that ball and are really frustrated by it," Cusiter added.
Ireland will be aiming for their fifth Triple Crown in seven seasons and a ninth straight Six Nations victory over Scotland this weekend.
Saturday's match also marks Ireland's last at Croke Park before they return across Dublin to their traditional home of Lansdowne Road, which has been undergoing redevelopment.
"We're under a bit of pressure, having not won in the championship," Cusiter said. "As a group we feel we should have won so we have one last opportunity to win and we're putting ourselves under pressure to get that.
"They're going for the Triple Crown and it's their last match at Croke Park, but it's a big game for us as well because it's the last opportunity to get something out of this championship.
"They will definitely come out fired up because they'll be hugely motivated and that's a big thing for us to deal with, but that means we'll need to be in a similar state of mind and come out all guns firing."
However, Scotland's problem has not been in starting well but in finishing matches strongly, notably against Wales where they led by 10 points with four minutes left only to lose in a frantic finale at the Millennium Stadium.
"Later in the game is where the pressure will begin to show," Cusiter said.
"In the last 10-15 minutes of the game is where we've let ourselves down in the past few games so we have to improve and take the chances that we get."
Scotland's first Six Nations under coach Andy Robinson has failed to live up to the promise created by the team's dramatic 9-8 win over Australia at Murrayfield in November.
Nevertheless, Cusiter said Scotland had made progress.
"We're not far away and if we keep making improvements then this whole Six Nations will have been a valuable experience for us," he insisted.
However, former England flanker and coach Robinson said Scotland would have no-one to blame but themselves if they finished bottom of the table.
"Lots of people create chances in games, it's about your ability to finish them off," he said. "If you score fewer points than the opposition, you deserve to be where you are."
Scotland are set to be unchanged after flanker Kelly Brown was passed fit on Friday after a sickening clash of heads with England wing Ugo Monye during the Calcutta Cup draw at Murrayfield.
Copyright 2010 AFP Global Edition
