Josh Strauss thinks playing in front of a sold-out BT Murrayfield crowd will give Scotland a lift when they take on Ireland this weekend but insists that other teams won’t be paying too much attention to the venue.
The bearded Celt came off the bench for the injured Sam Skinner last weekend and impressed in Scotland’s opening Guinness Six Nations win over Italy at home.
Ireland are up next for Scotland – who are now unbeaten at home in the Championship since the opening round of the 2016 edition.
And with the Scottish crowd be ready to roar their team on come Saturday, Strauss is confident his team have a great chance of repeating their victory over the same opponents back in 2017.
“It’s great that it’s sold out. It’s a great feeling singing the national anthem with a full stadium. It does boost us a lot”, said Strauss.
“I think a lot of teams now are trying to get away from the whole fact of focusing too much on if we’re at home or away.
“That comes later in the week when you start talking about a few mental things. Earlier in the week it’s more physical preparation than anything else and then, later in the week, the mental side starts to come in and you talk about playing at home and what it means.”
The vast majority of Gregor Townsend’s Scotland squad are drawn from Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors who are both in fine form this season.
Both clubs have made the European Champions Cup quarter-finals this year for the first time ever and are also going well in the Guinness PRO14.
Strauss, formerly of Glasgow, now plies his trade in the Gallagher Premiership with Sale however, and is enjoying the blend that brings to the squad.
“It’s all physical. It’s tough leagues all over,” he added.
“There’s experiences you can bring from playing in a different competition, playing against different players, new challenges, new experiences.
“From my experience, every time we come back in Scotland, the focus is here, and we try and see what we can do better as a team.”
