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A shocked Gregor Townsend said his Scotland side deserved all the flak that comes their way after a 34-7 Six Nations thumping at the hands of injury-hit Wales.
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Leigh Halfpenny scored a try in each half and claimed a 24-point haul as Warren Gatland’s men made a blistering start to the tournament at the Principality Stadium.
Scotland were considered to be in with a good chance of winning in Cardiff and head coach Townsend was stunned with such an inept display in his first Six Nations match in charge.
“We know that was well short of what is required playing for Scotland,” he said.
“We should be criticised for today’s performance, be it from you guys [the media], the supporters who were down here or from ourselves.
“We come together a few times in a season and now, just over two months after we played Australia, the shock is that we played so badly given that we played so well in that last game.
“But we have four games and the next one comes up quickly, and we have to be much, much better.”
#WALvSCO FT | Wales 34 – 7 Scotland #AsOne pic.twitter.com/MxwrQdxfs5
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) February 3, 2018
Wales raced into a 14-0 lead inside 12 minutes and such a heavy loss made difficult viewing for Townsend.
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He added: “The first 15 minutes was a bizarre Test match as it was so open.
“It wasn’t what you’d describe as a Six Nations game and we needed to be more accurate. The early try Wales got sapped our confidence and gave them momentum.
“We allowed Wales too much possession. There was an element of chasing the game in the second half and we needed to start the second half with a response. It was miles below what we need to do in the jersey – and in this championship.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Fellas a balloon
3 Go to commentsBlues B team on display and made no race of it. By far the best team in SR with the Hurricanes barely getting past the winning post. Up the Blues 💙
5 Go to commentsWould be amazing to have Servette Genève reaching this level
3 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can't buy a win this season. Surely Penney's contract won't be renewed. There's still enough talent in the squad that they oughta be winning more.
1 Go to commentsABs captain for 23 seasons. Decent record. Surely nobody will surpass it. Legend. But alas a typo…
1 Go to commentsJust FYI Rugbypass, I for one am tired of your clickbait titles and thumbnails and will be clicking them no longer. Good day.
1 Go to commentsI think Farrell despite all of the stick he gets in the media is still one of if not the best fly half in the world. He is literally the full package. He can kick one of the best in the world, probably has the best defensive game of a fly half in the world and if he wants to he can run, take contact and find an offload to keep the pace of the attack. I dont know why he isnt spoken more about still being one of the best in the world with the likes of dupont. Farrell is the ultimate captain and team leader and is experienced- he has been in nearly any situation you can think of. I still believe due to these reasons that he is England’s best ever player and is still one of the best players in the world.
48 Go to commentsBlues are dominating up front and that’s been a long time coming. They have won the up front confrontation which is where canes, hilanders and act brumbies are also strong.
5 Go to commentsJust watched brumbies v safas game sadly not a show in he’ll thryr anywhere near quarters or semi contention. Admittedly some issues around new comers bot what stands out for me is coaching management, poor game planning and accuracy.
5 Go to commentsOne tough SOB!
16 Go to commentsI’ve put on 4/5 kilos since the beginning of the season too. Not good kilos. Bad kilos.
5 Go to commentsSurely there’s a ‘no knobheads’ policy ?
3 Go to commentsWallaroos have no chance of beating the Black Ferns unless Canada upsets them in Christchurch tomorrow but I doubt that as well!
1 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Could the victim do a course to reverse the long term CTE damage from the cheapshot?
2 Go to commentsTruely great player. In social media and opinion pieces he was held up and flogged for the results. People wanted someone to crucify, and he was the captain. He was still an immense presence respected by his peers. His battles with Siya Kolisi belong up with with Collins vs Burger in my opinion. Unlucky to be carded in the final, but I don’t agree that his red card was the defining moment. Not when you look at the dominant performances of the Springboks (PSDT in particular.) I think Cane should be remembered for the spirit and physicality that is special to test rugby.
16 Go to commentsSam was the man until he got injured .
16 Go to comments_Crusaders versus Leinster _at the moment might be a rout! But I would like to see the Blues play Toulouse, the Hurricanes front up against Stade Francais, and the Chiefs go against Toulon.
157 Go to commentsLove it when we overlap! Promise it was not forethought.
19 Go to commentsjfc can this guy plz stay out of the news for one week
3 Go to commentsIf stormers aren’t available. Based on form and likely availability at the time of the wales Test, you’d think Masuku would be a no-brainer to start. But starting Jordan also makes sense having Masuku come off the bench to close out the game.
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