Scotland need to be much better than in their opening two Six Nations victories if they are to have any chance of beating last year’s Grand Slam winners France in Paris on Sunday, centre Sione Tuipulotu said on Wednesday.
Scotland upset England at Twickenham and followed that up with home success over Wales to win their opening two Six Nations matches for the first time since 1996.
It has created much excitement around the team but Tuipulotu insisted there was room for improvement that would be needed if they were to keep up their winning run at the Stade de France at the weekend.
“After the last two games that we’ve won, we’ve looked back and realised we actually haven’t played to our potential yet. But we do know that going to France we are going to need to play to our full potential to win,” he told a virtual news conference.
“So I think we’re all just kind of focused on the fact that we’ve got two wins and that’s cool and it has given us a good start to the tournament, but ultimately, we’re going to have to be a lot better to beat France in France.”
Tuipulotu said he felt that was possible.
“In analysing the games, you realise there’s a lot of missed opportunities out there and that maybe we could have worked harder here or being more clinical there,” he said.
“That gives you confidence, knowing that if you put in the work, you’re going to be better. And I think we’ve been week by week getting better and better.”
Tuipulotu and his Glasgow Warriors team mate Huw Jones were among Scotland’s top performers in their two wins, keeping British & Irish Lion Chris Harris on the bench.
“I would never tell him this but I’ve been a fan of Huw for a long time now,” Tuipulotu said of his centre partner.
“I’m really comfortable playing with him on both sides of the ball. I think why we go together so well is we think of the game in similar ways and on the field we can have these little conversations and execute under pressure. This weekend is just another opportunity for us.”
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Toby Davis)
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