Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw hit out at referee Romain Poite following their defeat to Ireland on Saturday, claiming the Frenchman “doesn’t seem to like” Scotland, the BBC report.

Following their opening weekend victory over Italy, Scotland failed to make it two wins from two, with Ireland running out 22-13 winners at Murrayfield thanks to tries from Conor Murray, Jacob Stockdale and Keith Earls.

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The result also meant Gregor Townsend’s side failed to pick up a losing bonus point, with Laidlaw criticising the referee after the match.

Laidlaw refused to blame the Frenchman for the defeat but admitted Scotland don’t see ‘eye-to-eye’ with the official.

He doesn’t seem to like us, Romain.

[Poite] picked us up in the middle of the field, Sean O’Brien’s reefed the ball out and he’s given a knock-on, and it’s right in front of him.

He refereed us against South Africa as well and we don’t seem to see eye-to-eye. We’re not going to blame him, we look at ourselves, and credit to Ireland.

Poite officiated in Scotland’s narrow defeat to South Africa back in November, as well as memorable wins over Ireland in 2017 and Australia in 2009.

Head coach Townsend refused to comment on Poite’s performance and admitted his side have enough to bounce back against France in their next fixture.

I believe in this squad, I believe with whoever we have selected from our wider group come two weeks’ time in the Stade de France, that we can go there and win [against France].