Listen to the full interview with Andy Nicol via the podcast.

Since they won the old Five Nations in 1999, Scotland have suffered plenty of lows in the intervening years.

However last year proved to be a slightly better Championship for the Scots as they finished third in the standings, stunning Ireland somewhat fortuitously at Murrayfield along the way.

Joe Schmidt will be looking to right the wrongs from that defeat on Sunday in the opening round of the 2014 Six Nations.

But with the Scots coming off the back of a difficult Autumn series, what threat do they pose to Ireland?

We spoke to former Scotland international Andy Nicol to find out.

"What the Autumn did prove is that if we don't have certain key players fit then the drop-off is very apparent. But the good news from a Scottish perspective is that most of the guys are going to be fit for Sunday so I think we will be picking a better squad than we saw in the Autumn," said Nicol who feels the health of the game in Scotland is "perennially on a sickbed."

He also added that the Scottish players have a bigger step up to make than the Ireland players. But he is excited by the back five, although that is tempered by concerns over the No 10 shirt.

Listen to the full interview via the link at the top.

Image: Scotland captain Kelly Brown ©INPHO/Billy Stickland