Parks expects special attention from Moody

Scotland fly-half Dan Parks expects to be targeted by Lewis Moody in next weekend's Calcutta Cup clash with England.

Parks has enjoyed a spectacular renaissance at Test level in recent weeks, winning back-to-back Man of the Match awards since Andy Robinson ended his long international exile in the RBS 6 Nations game against Wales.

Those individual plaudits were earned despite Scotland having lost both matches and Robinson's men go into the fourth round of the Six Nations needing to beat their arch-rivals to stand a realistic chance of avoiding the wooden spoon.

Parks believes England flanker Moody, who it emerged yesterday will end his 14-year association with Leicester when he joins Bath this summer, will be tasked with stopping the Glasgow star's superb tactical kicking game at Murrayfield.

Parks said: 'Obviously, if I am selected, I am sure I will be getting a lot of harassment from Lord Snooty.

'He is very courageous and always in your face and putting a lot of pressure on fly-halves. I know I will have a tough time of it.

'But, if I get the opportunity, it will be something I will look forward to.'

Ireland ended England's Grand Slam hopes with a 20-16 win at Twickenham last weekend.

They will desperate to avoid a hat-trick of defeats at Murrayfield having been beaten there in 2006 and 2008.

Parks said: 'England are a very, very good team and have proved that this year in the Six Nations.

'They had a disappointing loss against Ireland, but Ireland are a great team, so they can't take that as a negative.

'But I think we've improved from Wales. We did some good things against Italy.

'Certainly, there are some things we need to work on and we are looking at that.

'But, if we can keep getting our game in order, we certainly can challenge them and that's obviously what we are going to be trying to do.'

Scotland captain Chris Cusiter revealed this week head coach Robinson had given his team the toughest of debriefs after last weekend's disappointing defeat in Rome.

Parks told BBC Scotland: 'We had a really thorough talking over with Andy.

'I have to say confidence is quite good at the moment. We just need to close off games.'

Well beaten by France, Scotland dominated against Wales and also had the lion's share of possession and territory against Italy.

Despite the dispiriting nature of the latter two defeats, Parks insisted Robinson's debrief had boosted confidence.

Parks, who will leave Glasgow for Cardiff this summer, said: 'He was very honest and it was appreciated by all the boys, which was really good.

'We sat in it and took it. It was tough, but it was really good for the team.

'We had ourselves in a position to win the game against Italy and against Wales we should have won the game full stop.

'Confidence is still there. It is just a case of putting in an 80-minute performance instead of a 75-minute performance.'