Scotland lock Alastair Kellock has warned Ireland's Triple Crown-chasing squad to brace themselves for a massive battle in the last Six Nations game at Croke Park.
Ireland, who could still retain their Six Nations title if England were to upset France in Paris on Saturday, are seeking to end their temporary stay at the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association by landing their fifth Triple Crown in the last seven years.
The Scots, unchanged from the side that drew with England at the weekend, are facing the humiliation of collecting the tournament's wooden spoon, and Kellock says that is all the motivation they need to pull off an upset.
"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."
Despite failing to win so far in this tournament, Scotland impressed in phases against Wales -- where they lost from a winning position in the final seconds -- and England, and Kellock believes a really good 80-minute performance is close.
"We've been desperate to get the win all through the championship," he added. "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."
Ireland skipper Brian O'Driscoll meanwhile has reminded his countrymen that it was not so long ago that Triple Crown triumphs were rare indeed.
"Declan Kidney (Ireland's head coach) mentioned he's gone through a couple of decades when Ireland haven't experienced a Triple Crown," he said.
"I recognised the enormity of the Triple Crown when we won the first one in 2004 because of the long time since we'd won one before then.
"You always set your targets as high as you can in trying to achieve the ultimate which is the Grand Slam.
"When you can't achieve that the next best thing is the championship or the Triple Crown.
"Sometime goals have to be reassessed mid-season and after we lost to France we had to do that.
"We put ourselves in a position to still win something that we've targeted.
"The squad is far from blase - to be so would be disrespectful to those Ireland players who spilt a lot of blood over the years but failed to win a Triple Crown."
Ireland have been playing at Croke Park since 2007 while a new national stadium has been being constructed on the site of the old Lansdowne Road ground.
O'Driscoll is expected to resume his centre partnership with Gordon D'Arcy on Saturday although his Leinster colleague remains doubtful with a dead leg. Paddy Wallace is on standby to deputise if D'Arcy fails to recover sufficiently.
Copyright 2010 AFP Global Edition
