Stringer focused solely on the treble

Scrumhalf Peter Stringer will be Ireland's most capped player lining out in Murrayfield but despite his 74 caps the Munster man refuses to look beyond the possibility of a Triple Crown tomorrow.

Stringer made his Test debut against Scotland in 2000 and has been dropped just once since - against the same opposition a year later. At 29 he could yet become Ireland's first rugby centurion.

"Being the most capped player in tomorrow's team means a lot to me," says the scrumhalf. "You really do miss out when you're not involved - like when I was injured against France - because you don't feel a part of it.

"I never take your foot off the gas because it could be my last game for Ireland.

Stringer is still some way off the caps leader Malcolm O'Kelly who has amassed 83 in his career, but at 31 it looks unlikely that the big lock will make it to treble figures.

"I never dreamed this number of caps, it's a great honour. Reaching 100 caps is obviously a goal and a dream of mine. But it's a good way off," insists Stringer, who is now purely focusing on a ninth Triple Crown and a third in four years.

Ireland have the last six meetings with the Scots, whose form in this year's Six Nations has lurched from encouraging to dismal, and are heavy favourites to continue that sequence.

Stringer will be among the nine Ireland players to have won all three Triple Crowns should his team prevail tomorrow and the Munster scrumhalf insists it remains a coveted prize.

"Scotland can be unpredictable, especially at home. In the past we've gone up there as favourites but come away with a loss," he said. "They've been unpredictable again this season, with a good performance against Wales but then throwing it away against Italy.

"For us winning the Triple Crown is still a special achievement. I grew up in an era of Irish rugby when there were very few Triple Crowns and wasn't much success.

"Obviously we want to go one step better by winning a title and a Grand Slam but the Triple Crown is still a major objective."

Scotland, says Stringer, have fallen into the trap of over-relying on structured training ground moves, which the proved when they gave Italy a 21-0 headstart two weeks ago.

Scotland never recovered from that and collapsed to a 37-17 defeat at Murrayfield. Scrumhalf Chris Cusiter threw two intercepted passes to emerge as the main villain but has been given a chance to redeem himself against Ireland.

Stringer insists the start would have unfolded differently had Scotland not been so intent on implementing a gameplan that should have been overtaken by events on the pitch.

"The second of Cusiter's intercepts was a line-out move off the training pitch that comes off beautifully when you're unopposed," he said. "Come match-day it can be hard to pick out where players can be and he was blind-sided.

"It was unfortunate for him to have two passes intercepted like that. The game is becoming so structured and teams now prepare for every instance in training during the week.

"Sometimes things become too prescribed and off-the-cuff play has gone. That seemed to be the case for Scotland - they went through with the move for the sake of it when it was called.