Don't be seduced by the Calcutta Cup second half, it masks Scotland's grim failings
The danger when reviewing Scotland’s Six Nations championship is that the dizzying second half at Twickenham erases the horror of the first and the grim failings that came before it. In the opening half-hour in London, England rampaged through what vaguely passed for a Scottish line as though rushing at tackle bags and Scotland flapped about defensively with the coordination of blind pigeons.
It was mortifying stuff, a rugby apocalypse on steroids. Quite how Scotland could become so fabulous after capitulating so quickly and flat-lining so meekly is hard to fathom. It is also rather a fitting metaphor for a campaign that delivered the spectacular and the maddening, and ended on that most bizarre wave of pride and disappointment.
Defensive frailties
Scotland shipped 17 tries this tournament, the most they have conceded in a Six Nations for 14 years. Given that period encompasses some of the darkest campaigns and most hideous days in Scottish rugby history – 51-3 in Cardiff, 61-21 at Twickenham, a 37-17 Murrayfield hosing by Italy – that’s a desperate statistic.
Too often, the Scottish line has been punctured. Too many times, poor decisions have been made and punished, a player rushing up too far, a man biting in when he should stay wide, a one-on-one tackle missed.
On Saturday, England’s four first-half tries were comically easy, like watching ants trying to fell a herd of stampeding elephants. Wales made five visits to the Scottish 22 at Murrayfield, left with points three times and struck the post with a penalty on a fourth. France made 17 line-breaks in Paris. Ireland were hardly flying on their trip to Edinburgh but canny enough to score three tries and smother their way to a win. Even Italy, sickness-ridden and a pale shadow of the team they became later in the tournament, ran in a late treble of scores against the Scots.
Gregor Townsend spoke at Twickenham about individuals lurching out of alignment rather than trusting the system. There was ferocious second-half tackling that almost – almost – closed out the most astonishing of victories. The hope is that with more time in the saddle for his rookie Test backs, these mistakes will diminish, but in the present, Scotland’s defensive record makes for painful – and unacceptable – reading.
Coming of age
Any team, let alone one with only two pro-sides to draw upon, would struggle with the kind of body count Scotland had to manage.
So much prime cattle on the sidelines. A pre-tournament injury list of 20 and with each passing round, another big player added to the heap of invalids. John Barclay, their captain, missed the entire tournament. So did Duncan Taylor, Mark Bennett, Matt Scott and Richie Gray. Hamish Watson started one game, Stuart Hogg, Ryan Wilson, Sam Skinner and Huw Jones two, and Sean Maitland and WP Nel three. Tommy Seymour, Blair Kinghorn and Jamie Ritchie were all crocked for the Twickenham fiasco.
That’s heinously bad fortune, but it has opened the door to burgeoning talent.
Ritchie, Edinburgh’s snarling flanker, seized his opportunity. If he can replicate the kind of barnstorming surges seen at Twickenham, Magnus Bradbury could become the ball-carrying behemoth Scotland are crying out for.
Sam Johnson has been a stupendous addition in midfield with his guile, handling and defensive ferocity. He had a particularly sore opening in London but recovered spectacularly, lacerating England’s line, bamboozling and then detonating the covering defence en route to a try for the ages. That’s the sort of resilience and ruthlessness Scotland need.
And in Darcy Graham, what a turbo-charged star Townsend has on his hands. Felling this fearless little bloke is like trying to tackle a tornado. Graham’s Hawick origins are also important. There’s something unique in the make-up of the Borderer, an almost intangible grit and nastiness and menace that tends to produce particularly unflinching rugby players.
Scotland’s great rugby heartland has withered with the onset of the professional game, but Graham is a beacon of encouragement to the next generation and at a time where roughly half of his team-mates at Twickenham learned their rugby outside of Scotland, an apt reminder of the talent emerging at home.
Wasteful attack
Scotland made more metres with ball in hand than any other team this championship. Leaving aside that bonkers evening at Twickenham, they scored only eight tries from their glut of yards, averaging a little better than one try per 11 minutes of attacking ball.
There have been tear-your-hair-out moments of criminal butchery. Dropped passes, blown overlaps, silly infringements. Their error count against Ireland was grotesque, meaning they didn’t make it into the away 22 once after half-time. They had the ball in the French red zone 11 times in Paris but left with points only twice. They weren’t cute or ruthless enough to put Wales away. Despite laying siege to the champions’ line, deep down, you struggled to convince yourself they were going to breach it, much less hold on to any winning position.
Their 14-try tournament haul is as high as they have mustered in the Six Nations – it’s all very well tossing away the shackles when 31-7 down, but Scotland have the ominous look of a team who continually let their opponents scramble to safety when they have a foot on their throats.
The exasperating thing is that when they get it right, Scotland are wondrously – often outrageously – brilliant to watch.
Their first-phase howitzer against Wales. Finn Russell’s glorious cross-kick for Kinghorn against Italy, a try and a game that seems a lifetime ago now. Any of their six Calcutta Cup tries were worthy of the All Blacks and – barring a madcap Barbarians game – their 38-point haul is the highest score an away side has posted at Twickenham since South Africa walloped England 11 years ago. These were delicious, firecracker tries, but they count for little in defeat.
World-class Russell holds the key
How Scotland have longed for a play-maker of Russell’s calibre, a man talented enough to bamboozle any defence in the game and fearless enough to trust his skills when it matters most.
Russell is a world-class pivot and his brilliance is growing at Racing 92. The maverick streak remains but the hair-brained errors that often accompanied it have been in short supply.
Of Scotland’s 14 championship tries, Russell scored one, put team-mates in for four others with passes or kicks and his fingerprints were evident on five more.
His importance cannot be understated. Of all the 60-plus players Townsend has selected, and those he will hope to cap before the World Cup, Russell is the one he can least afford to lose.
Away-day blues
You still can’t hang your hat on this team to slay the big beasts of the championship, even less so on the road. Scotland last won in Cardiff in 2002, in Paris 20 years ago, in Dublin in 2010 and, of course, at Twickenham in 1983, a time when none of the current squad had drawn breath and Townsend had just turned 10. In 40 away Tests against Wales, Ireland, England and France since the Five Nations became six, Scotland have won two and drawn one.
It’s a pitiful return. You can’t be as inconsistent and infuriating as Scotland – with your top players or without them – and expect to announce yourselves as title contenders.
Scotland didn’t have an Alun Wyn Jones or a Peter O’Mahony this year, a standard-setting colossus who inspired those around them. John Barclay can be that man, but at 32, after almost a year on the sidelines, he will not be around forever.
Townsend will have learned plenty about his team and the state it is in six months from Japan. He will be deeply heartened by their flair and their character in London and deeply troubled by much else. The hope is that the heavy-hitters – the Hoggs, the Barclays, the Joneses – are revving again come September, and the prayer that Russell comes through the tail-end of a bruising Top 14 season unscathed. The jaw-dropping finale might paper over a crack or two, but the reality is that Scotland still have a long way to go.
Comments on RugbyPass
Oh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
26 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
2 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
2 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
7 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
5 Go to commentsI know Leinster did a job on La Roche but shortly after HT Leinster were 30-13 ahead of them and at a similar time Toulouse were trailing Exeter. At 60 mins Leinster were 27 ahead but after 67 mins Toulouse were only 19 ahead before Exeter collapsed. That’s heavier scoring by Leinster against the Champions. I think people are looking at Toulouses total a little too much. I also think Northhampton are in with a real chance, albeit I’d put Leinster as favourites. If Leinster make the final I expect them to win by more than ten and with control.
5 Go to commentsHey Nick, your match analysis is decent but the top and tail not so much, a bit more random. For a start there’s a seismic difference in regenerating any club side over a test team. EJ pretty much had to urinate with the appendage he’d been given at test level whereas club success is impacted hugely by the budget. Look no further than Boudjellal’s Toulon project for a perfect example. The set ups at La Rochelle and Leinster are like chalk and cheese and you are correct that Leinster are ahead. Leinster are not just slightly ahead though, they are light years ahead on their plans, with the next gen champions cup team already blooded, seasoned and developing at speed from their time manning the fort in the URC while the cream play CC and tests. They have engineered a strong talent conveyor belt into their system, supported by private money funnelled into a couple of Leinster private schools. The really smart move from Leinster and the IRFU however is maximising the Irish Revenue tax breaks (tax relief on the best 10 years earnings refunded at retirement) to help keep all of their stars in Ireland and happy, while simultaneously funding marquee players consistently. And of course Barrett is the latest example. But in no way is he a “replacement for Henshaw”, he’s only there for one season!!! As for Rob Baxter, the best advice you can give him is to start lobbying Parliament and HMRC for a similar state subsidy, but don’t hold your breath… One thing Cullen has been very smart with is his coaching team. Very quickly he realised his need to supplement his skills, there was talk of him exiting after his first couple of years but he was extremely shrewd bringing in Lancaster and now Nienaber. That has worked superbly and added a layer that really has made a tangible difference. Apart from that you were bang on the money… 😉😂
5 Go to commentsNot sure exactly what went wrong for him at Glasgow but it’s pretty clear he ain’t Franco’s cup of tea. Suspect he would have been better served heading out of Scotland around the same time as Finn, Hoggy and Jonny!
1 Go to commentsBulls disrespected the Northampton supporters and the competition. Decide quickly, fully in or out.
26 Go to commentsI wonder if Parling was ever on England’s radar as a coach? Obviously Borthwick is a great lineout coach, but I do worry he might be taking on too much as both head coach and forwards coach.
1 Go to commentsJason Jenkins has one cap. When Etzebeth was his age he had over 80 caps. Experience matters. He will never amount to what Etzebeth has because he hasn’t been developed as an international player.
2 Go to commentsSays much about the player picking this gig over the easier and bigger rewards offered to him in Japan. Also says a lot about the state sanctioned tax benefits the Irish Revenue offers pro rugby players, with their ten highest earning years subject to an additional 40% tax relief and paid as a lump sum, in cash, at retirement. Certainly helps Leinster line up the financial ducks in a row to fund marquee signings like this!!! No other union anywhere in world rugby benefits from this kind of lucrative financial sponsorship from their government…
5 Go to commentsTrue Jordie could earn a lot more in Japan. But by choosing Leinster he’ll be playing with 1 of the best clubs in the world and can win a champions cup and URC…..
6 Go to commentsThanks for that Marshy, noticed you didn't say who is gonna win it. We know who ain't gonna win it - your Crusaders outfit. They've gone from having arguably the best Super Rugby first five ever, to having a clutch of rookies. Hurricanes all the way!
1 Go to commentsGeez you really have to question the NRLs ability to produce players of quality. Its pathetic. Dont the 25mil in Aus produce enough quality womens players. Sad.
1 Go to commentsBulls fan here, and agree 100% with the conclusion (and little else) of this article. SA sides should absolutely f-off from the champs cup until we get fair scheduling, equal support for travel arrangements and home semis. You know, like all the european teams get.
26 Go to commentsI’m yet to see why Grace would be an ABs contender. He’s pedestrian and lacks the dominance required of a top flight 8.
11 Go to commentsGee my Highlanders were terrible. They have gone backwards since the start of the season. The trouble began when we left Millar behind to prep as the 10 against the Brumbies and he was disconnected from the team that came back from Aussie. We rested Patchell for that game and we blew an avalanche of ball in good attacking positions in the 1st half. Against the Rebels we seem to of gone into a pod system with forwards hanging off from the breakdown leaving Fakatava to secure our ball!
80 Go to comments