John Barclay: Scotland can beat anyone

25 February 2017 04:54

John Barclay believes Scotland are capable of beating any team after they kept their RBS 6 Nations hopes alive with a 29-13 victory over Wales at BT Murrayfield.

Tommy Seymour and Tim Visser scored second-half tries while Finn Russell kicked 19 points as Scotland came from behind to claim their first triumph over Wales in 10 years.

Despite losing to France in their last outing, the Scots have defeated Ireland and Wales in this tournament so far.

Barclay, who was making his debut as captain, told BBC Sport: "We started the championship very well at home versus Ireland.

"We were disappointed in France, but we believe we can do something as a group. We tightened things up after making too many mistakes, giving away too many penalties.

"We can mix it with anyone. I'm not going to make any big predictions. We have beaten Ireland, who are a very good team, and we have beaten Wales, who are a very good team.

"We believe we can beat anyone."

Russell, instrumental with the boot, hailed Scotland's second-half display as they overturned a four-point deficit.

"The boys were awesome today," he said.

"We knew how tough it was going to be against Wales, especially with both teams coming off a loss. The second-half performance from us was outstanding. I'm so proud of the boys out there.

"We knew how tough a game against Wales it would be. But we knew if we were in the game, we would be good enough to get a couple of tries. We dug deep."

Alun-Wyn Jones accepted Scotland deserved the win.

"Credit to Scotland. They took the opportunity to capitalise on the possession they had," he said.

Source: PA