Joe Schmidt on ‘mature’ Scotland, ‘uncomfortable’ position & 2017 memories

His Ireland team beat Scotland in seven out of eight meetings but Schmidt says “this is the strongest Scotland I’ve seen, now hitting the sweet spot in their maturity”.

He says he identified weaknesses in previous Scottish teams but it’s harder to do this time.

Australia getting praise for wins over England and Wales doesn’t matter to hi,. “I’m permanently uncomfortable” as a coach, he says.

Said he has joked over the years with Vern Cotter – his mate and the then-Scotland coach – about the one time Schmidt lost to Scotland in 2017 when the Irish bus was late to arrive at Murrayfield.

Schmidt revealed he met recently with former Scotland scrum-half Greig Laidlaw, who coaches Australia centre Samu Kerevi in Japan. Kerevi is suspended for this weekend’s game.