We can fix this, says Cotter
SCOTLAND head coach Vern Cotter is confident he can ‘fix’ the problems in his team after their dispiriting Calcutta Cup defeat by England. And the big Kiwi insists his side can bounce back with a victory over Wales — who drew with Ireland yesterday — at the Principality Stadium on Saturday. ‘The boys are competitors and they are just annoyed with themselves,’ said Cotter. ‘If they take a good hard look at themselves, which I know they will, we can fix this. A week is a long time and we can get a few things sorted before the Wales game.’ Cotter admitted his side had lacked composure against an England team that outscored them two tries to nil and need to make better decisions under pressure in the Welsh capital. ‘We do not like losing and we need to
show a bit more composure at times,’ he continued. ‘We were in the England half eight times and did not score a try. ‘These are the sort of things we really need to work on. It’s not that we are that far away. We are close. ‘We need to be focused and show total concentration. ‘Games at this level are tight affairs, so we have to take the defeat to England on the chin. ‘If I felt we had been completely dominated, I may feel differently but I don’t think we were. ‘We put them under pressure but we did not hold the pressure on for long enough. ‘There is more frustration than anything else because I know there is so much more that can come out of this side. ‘We can’t do anything now about what happened against England but we can look forward to the next game. ‘We know we can do better and if we find ourselves in a close game again against Wales, then we have to nail it.’ Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw said his side had given away ‘dumb penalties’ and needed to improve their discipline against the Welsh. ‘It’s disappointing for us but we certainly made it easy for England in the second half,’ he admitted. ‘We must learn quickly with the Welsh game coming up and we can’t feel sorry for ourselves. ‘Games are decided by such small margins and England certainly took their chances. ‘There were opportunities out there for us and we have to be brutal with ourselves this week. We made too many silly mistakes and gave away too many dumb penalties.’ Laidlaw said the confidence his team had gained from their performances in the World Cup had not drained away completely following the loss to England and agreed with Cotter they could bounce back against Wales. ‘There is still belief,’ he insisted. ‘If we execute our skills, concentrate and take away some of the dumb things we did in the game, then we are a good side. ‘Our focus has switched to the Wales game.’