Huw Jones says Scotland must continue to raise their game
Tuesday 21 November 2017 15:43, UK
Huw Jones says Scotland must continue to raise their game following a spirited display against New Zealand.
Scotland fell short of a first win against the All Blacks, losing 22-17 to the world champions at Murrayfield.
Gregor Townsend's side received high praise following the defeat and centre Jones wants his team-mates to maintain their high level of performance, beginning with Australia on Saturday.
"That's a mindset thing," said the 23-year-old. "Pretty much every team will have their best game against the All Blacks because they're number one in the world.
"It's easy to raise your game against them. Now it's about getting into that mindset of wanting to play at that intensity no matter who the opponent is.
"The All Blacks game would have been the biggest of our careers so far and if you're not in the best headspace for that there's something wrong with you. So it's about replicating that frame of mind for every game."
Australia travel to Edinburgh this weekend following a 30-6 loss to England. The Wallabies have lost just four times this year and one of those defeats came against Scotland in June.
Jones missed their 24-19 victory in Sydney, but insists winning in Australia convinced Scotland they can compete against some of the best teams in the world.
Jones, who scored twice on his debut against Australia in 2016, added: "We came really close against them this time last year so to finally beat them in Australia was no easy feat.
"It's given us a lot of confidence and that's carried through to where we are now. The fear factor now is gone. We go into every game thinking we can win.
"The Australians were unlucky against England as some of the tries came against the run of play.
"However, Australia will be strong on Saturday. They showed at Twickenham they can attack really well so we can't look at that scoreline and think it'll be easy as it definitely won't."
