‘Do something special’: Six Nations incentive huge for Scotland amid 'added bonus'

Gregor Townsend’s side are second in the standings on 11 points with two rounds of fixtures remaining. They are four points behind leaders France who will clinch the title with a game to spare if they win with a bonus point at Murrayfield.

The French have been relentless, taking the maximum 15 points from their opening three matches. But Scotland have also found their form, recording back-to-back bonus-point victories over England and Wales after losing their opener to Italy.

Another five-point success this weekend could see them go above France if they can deny Fabien Galthie’s side a bonus point. It’s a huge task for the Scots but assistant coach John Dalziel believes the squad, led by captain Sione Tuipulotu are in a good place.

Asked about the carrot of potentially going into the final match against Ireland in Dublin in top spot, Dalziel said: “It's everything, isn't it? Sione spoke well today to the group: when we came in here it was a seven-week block together, it's now down to two and we've given ourselves an opportunity to be in this position where we are.

“We've got to really relish every minute. We are together for the next two weeks and it starts on Saturday. There's nothing after Saturday for us, our sights are only on that and we want to give our supporters the game of the tournament so far.

“The belief has honestly never been higher.”

France clinched the title by beating Scotland in Paris last season amid great fanfare and Dalziel admitted no-one of a Scottish persuasion wants a repeat of those celebrations this weekend.

“No, absolutely not,” he said. “They can get the championship wrapped up this weekend if we're not in the game, so we want to make sure we're going into the last round with a chance of still doing something special.”

We thought he was gone for the tournament

Scotland have been boosted by the return to training this week of Jack Dempsey who injured his arm against England and was expected to miss the remainder of the tournament. The No 8 is being assessed and a decision is likely to be made after Wednesday’s contact session.

“Jack coming back in has been an added bonus,” said Dalziel. “We thought we'd lost him for a bit longer, so we're just basically monitoring that day by day. I'm sure we'll do everything we can to get him back when he's ready and available. [Wednesday] will be a big day in terms of the contact element of that.”

Asked if he could feature on Saturday, Dalziel said: “There’s certainly more hope than we had at the start of last week. We thought that Jack was gone for the tournament, so for him to be able to turn around and find a way to be in this position has been good.”

Ewan Ashman is fit and available for selection after recovering from a neck issue and fellow hooker Gregor Hiddleston has been able to take part in light training after suffering a “bang on the shoulder”. Seb Stephen has been called into the squad as cover.

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