Bernard Jackman has dismissed suggestions of Scottish "arrogance" ahead of Saturday's Guinness Six Nations finale in Dublin, and believes Gregor Townsend's side have every right to be confident of ending their 36-year wait for the Triple Crown.
Scotland's 50-40 win against France last Saturday leaves both they and Ireland still in contention for the Six Nations title, while there is also a Triple Crown up for grabs between the sides this weekend.
While Ireland have won the last 11 meetings of the teams in a row, Scotland wing Darcy Graham got the mind games going early this week, claiming that Ireland "are there for the taking" at the Aviva, despite his side last winning at Lansdowne Road in 1998.
"They've probably not been firing as well as they have in previous campaigns," Scotland's record try-scorer added.
"They’re still a world-class team, and it’s a difficult place to go. I’ve never been there and won, and I can’t even remember the last time we won there.
"It’s been a long time. But our confidence is right up there. We’ll go there full guns blazing."
It's not the first time a Scottish player has made a bold prediction about their chances in this fixture, with full-back Blair Kinghorn declaring his side would end Ireland's then 16-game winning run back in 2023, only for Ireland to run out 36-14 winners at the World Cup in Paris.
Graham's recent comments were met with suggestions that Scotland are getting ahead of themselves after their famous win against the French, but Jackman has dismissed the idea Townsend's side are coming to Dublin in with arrogance.
"I think that's nonsense," Jackman said of the reaction to Graham's comments on the RTÉ Rugby podcast.
"I genuinely don't think he should be challenged in any way about what he said.
"I think we always jump on this, 'Oh Scotland are arrogant'. What do you expect him to say?"
And the former Ireland international believes the Scottish wing wasn't wrong with his suggestion that Ireland have "not been firing" like in previous years.
"Genuinely like, Darcy Graham's comment; Ireland are a little bit in decline. That's just fact.
"There are certain question marks around Ireland, we've had a brilliant performance against England and around it, it's hardly the golden days in terms of our actual performances.
"I can see improvement as well. Wales was hard fought, Italy was hard fought, I'm not knocking the team but you [Scotland] are coming to Dublin in the hunt for a championship, in a hunt for a Triple Crown, you need to portray a little bit of confidence, I think.
"That's my personal opinion, and it'll be shoved down their throat if they don't perform but let's see what happens after the game, let's give them a chance to play," he added.
Jackman was joined on this week's RTÉ Rugby podcast by ex-Scotland international Rory Lawson.
And the former scrum-half insisted there is "zero arrogance" within the Scottish squad, given their history in this fixture.
"I know the Scotland squad, I know the guys. If Darcy [Graham] sat in front of a media press conference and said anything other than 'We're going to Dublin to win and we believe we have the ingredients to be able to win', then there would be the reverse of, ‘Scotland don't believe’," he said.
"There is a genuine belief and confidence within that squad that they can do it. There is zero arrogance because they've got recent experience and long-term experience of being knocked over by Ireland, of having done this before.
"Previous years you would have the public critics probably say: ‘What grounds have Scotland got to think that they can talk about beating us?’, but I think there may be a slight difference now in that squad.
"I think the number of Scottish players who were that Lions tour alongside Andy Farrell and his Irish players, they will have learned a lot about the Scotland guys and about their character and they'll know that there's not a whole lot of arrogance that kicks around within that group."
Ireland's 11-game winning run in this fixture dates back as far as the opening round of the 2017 championship at Murrayfield, with eight Six Nations wins, one Autumn Nations Series win and two World Cup pool victories in that time.
And Jackman made a compelling case for this being the toughest Scottish side Ireland will have faced in that time.
"I think it's the biggest challenge Ireland have had in a long time against Scotland because the confidence, or the belief is built on real, tangible performances," he added.
"Not just Scotland; Glasgow beating Toulouse. Having been was 21 points down, to come back and beat them 28-21 was phenomenally impressive. When they had to beat Saracens in the last round of the Champions Cup to try and get top seed, they managed to do that.
"Finn [Russell] obviously winning three trophies with Bath last year, looking as composed and as calm as he's ever been, with still the mercurial ability.
"Ben White in Toulon, they're not having a great season but I think it gave him confidence, he's playing against those players every week in the Top14, he looked like a man possessed [against France], and then Blair Kinghorn playing with the champions in Toulouse.
"It's a nice mix, they're more dangerous this week than they've ever been, and then obviously the fact that they're coming off the back of backing up the England performance of the Calcutta Cup win with two wins, and one of them being against France.
"So it's a serious risk for Ireland that Scotland are coming here not just with false hope, I think there's genuine reason why they can believe they can win."
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, and email us at sportpodcasts@rte.ie
Follow a live blog on Ireland v Scotland in the Six Nations on Saturday from 2.10pm on the RTÉ News app and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
Watch Wales v Italy (4.40pm) and France v England (8.10pm) on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player this Saturday.
