YOUNG At BRAVEhEARt

Adam: Scots starlets aren’t tainted by Twickenham failures so we can storm English castle for first time since 1983

ADAM HASTINGS insists the innocence of youth can help end Scotland’s Six Nations campaign on a high against England.

Maybe it’s just as well hope springs eternal for the 22-yearold after a defeat by Wales ahead of the journey to Twickenham where we haven’t won since 1983.

It’s now three losses on the trot for Gregor Townsend’s side, after Ireland and France.

Warren Gatland’s Grand Slam-chasing dragons delivered the latest disappointment in a Championship tipped to offer so much more.

But Hastings is convinced a squad that contains a host of players who have yet to be tainted by defeat from the Auld Enemy can defy history by slaying Eddie Jones’s men.

He said: “It’s a great challenge. Where would be better to win than down there against that team? We’re really up for it.

“I’ve been there once for a school sevens tournament, a final. I wasn’t playing, I’d hurt my knee – and they lost so I’ve not got any demons there.

“That’s a good thing and that’s maybe what’s good about this young squad. We’re a brave bunch and we’re not scared of these big teams.

“We’ll look to go down there and get a win. That would be a huge statement for this team.

“We’ve been there or thereabouts in every game we’ve played. So it would be a massive statement to go down there and win, especially in a World Cup year.”

Two first-half tries by Josh Adams and Jonathan Davies had set the Welsh on course for a win that will now see them seal a Grand Slam if they can get the better of Ireland this weekend.

But they were allowed off the hook at Murrayfield by a Scottish side that exerted the majority of the second-half pressure but only had a brilliant Darcy Graham try to show for their efforts.

That failure to execute when on top is a familiar theme and again points weren’t banked when offered up on four occasions when kickable penalties were turned down in favour of playing to touch in a bid to score tries.

A host of injuries to key men such as Tommy Seymour and Blair Kinghorn failed to knock Scotland out of their stride and waves of attacks were triggered after the break.

Hastings said: “We conceded a try and then they were dominating possession a bit. We couldn’t really get it going.

“But from half-time we dominated possession and we all felt pretty hard done by at the end of that game.

“When Darcy scored the try I firmly felt we were going to win the game. I don’t know what’s missing, maybe just a bit of accuracy and our defence can get a bit better.

“We tend to concede points early on, which hurts us later in the game, even though we tend to finish strongly – up until that last 10 minutes. We needed that final push but we didn’t get it. There are chances to go – but we’re slowing it down for that half second then the chance is gone.

“When we see those opportunities we have to take them with both hands.”

Frustration over that lack of killer instinct is shared by prop WP Nel who is adamant it can be corrected in time for Saturday’s clash with the English. He said: “The team stood up and put one of the best teams in the world under pressure.

“We know what we can do when we are at our best so we will take the performance and put right what was wrong and take that to England. We need to see where we can cope better with the drives and do better in attack and start turning that into points.

“If we can do that and turn in one of our best performances we can bow out with a win.”