Unsettling moments will gnaw at Scotland as a wounded Irish stag limps towards Murrayfield
It was a bizarre and unsettling end, a late volley that leeched some joy from an otherwise powerful Scottish victory.
Scotland had been motoring along very nicely, utterly dominant, their intensity and elan stupefying Italy. Their pack rumbled with menace and their big strike runners slalomed and galloped through the blue jerseys.
They had scored five tries and should have scored more, squandering a glut of field position and tantalising overlaps in a first half they bossed. They led 33-3 with nine minutes to play and the game had long been theirs.
But those final throes will gnaw at them. Three Italian tries in seven chaotic minutes. Yes, Scotland had lost Simon Berghan to the sin bin and their whip-cracking general, Greig Laidlaw, had retired for the afternoon. Yes, down to 14 men they persisted with the hitherto bountiful tactic of firing bodies into the breakdown. And yes, even allowing for the most enormous collapse in rugby history, they were never in any danger of losing.
Yet the way Scotland relinquished their grip on the game in that period was alarming. The passiveness where before there had been focus and aggression. Minds, it seemed, drifting to full-time and the colossal undertaking that awaits next week, when a wounded and smarting Ireland will roll into Edinburgh.
Guglielmo Palazzani burrowed through a fractured fringe defence on 71 minutes. The scrum-half spied a huge blind-side overlap, virtually a four-on-one, that ended with Edoardo Padovani taking Federico Ruzza’s delightful off-load to score the second four minutes later. Ruzza then sucked in two defenders and delivered another beautiful ball to Michele Campagnaro on halfway, the winger sending Angelo Esposito home untouched for number three.
Matt Taylor, Scotland’s defence specialist, is an animated viewer at the best of times – it would have been safer for all concerned had he been confined to a padded cell for those last 10 minutes.
Scotland are gunning for the top but top teams don’t sleepwalk to the finish line like that. You can’t imagine the All Blacks, South Africa, or several of the Six Nations big beasts, chucking away scores as meekly in that position.
The finale was a shame, particularly since so much of the preceding 70 minutes was excellent. Gregor Townsend can take a lot from what he saw out there.
Blair Kinghorn, his 22-year-old full-back deployed on the wing, gets the spotlight and the plaudits after cantering away for three excellent tries – the first Scottish hat-trick since the Five Nations became six. More encouraging is that all three were scored after a high-profile error – the devastating Kinghorn scythed through Italy’s midfield in the opening minutes but could not give Stuart Hogg a scoring pass when his colleague had a clear run to the line.
Kinghorn was a threat every time the ball reached his gangling frame. His third score in particular the result of a fantastic piece of finishing. That’s six tries in eight caps. What a prospect.
With Sean Maitland and Byron McGuigan to return from injury, Lee Jones of Glasgow and Edinburgh’s pocket tiger Darcy Graham vying for a spot, Scotland’s back-three stocks are in rude health.
Debutant centre Sam Johnson was phenomenal, displaying all the poise, intelligence and dynamism that have made Townsend so keen to get him involved. Johnson beat six defenders and his performance was laced with classy touches. Most of his competition for the 12 jersey is injured or, in the case of Alex Dunbar, badly short of form – there is a juicy opportunity for Johnson to make the position his own with the World Cup not too far down the tracks.
Hogg, scorer of Scotland’s third, delivered a typically electric showing at full-back, stressing the Italians whenever he seared into the line or ran from deep. Tommy Seymour made some clever defensive reads and one telling break.
And Finn Russell swaggered supreme at 10, his decision-making razor sharp. His split-second vision and sumptuous execution put Kinghorn in for his first with a peach of a crossfield kick. His delicate grubber was pounced on by Hogg and his caressed, delayed passes, first to Allan Dell then to Josh Strauss, were pivotal in the final two tries. It was a masterful outing, rated by Townsend as one of his best in a Scotland jersey.
In a second-row missing Jonny Gray, Grant Gilchrist put in 19 tackles and made 10 carries. In a back-row missing captain John Barclay and Hamish Watson, Jamie Ritchie was a belligerent titan on the open-side flank. Ryan Wilson put in his usual – and often under-appreciated – ton of graft with 16 carries. Strauss, introduced early on for the unfortunate Sam Skinner, charged as Scotland fans crave. The pack won all four of their scrums and all but one of their 13 line-outs.
All in all, an assured first hit, and only the third time in Six Nations history that Scotland have opened their championship with a win. They were wasteful in the first half and malleable at the end, but until that bonkers finish, never looked stressed. Conor O’Shea will ask why it took his side 70 minutes and five tries to start flexing their muscles.
Next week will be different for Scotland – so very different. Who foresaw the rampant Irish being tactically flummoxed and physically monstered on their own patch? And against England? How galling. Ireland under Joe Schmidt have seldom looked to flustered and bereft of ideas and it will probably be a long time until they suffer like that again. Pity the team, many are saying, who face them and their bubbling wrath next.
That’s what’s coming at Scotland now – a humiliated and vengeful Ireland bursting with winners and relentless vigour. Back-to-back defeats would be catastrophic for the champions.
If Scotland are to conquer them, they’ll need to be a whole lot sharper and a whole lot more concentrated for 80 minutes. The attrition and intensity will be ramped up tenfold on what they faced yesterday, but they know that.
They also know that nobody has won a Six Nations Test at Murrayfield since Eddie Jones’ Grand Slam winners in early 2016. France, England, Wales, Italy and, yes, Ireland, have all fallen there since. There’s a monumental challenge ahead, for sure, but meet it, go two from two, and what a riveting championship it could be.
Comments on RugbyPass
The World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
1 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
2 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
19 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments