Townsend must build a case for defence

FOUR tries conceded. Four. In a single game. One wrapped up and hand delivered to the opposition. So, after two away games in this Six Nations, Scotland have allowed the opposition to cross the whitewash eight times. Anyone else see a pattern emerging? Yes, it’s only natural that we should focus on chances created but not taken by the Scots in Dublin. They created a sufficient number of openings to win almost any game — and some of the mental errors were absolutely maddening. Huw Jones, we’re looking at you. But don’t get too hung up on this rare instance of attacking inaccuracy. Don’t ignore the loose nuts and bolts that allowed first the Welsh, and then the Irish, to score at such an unrestrained clip. Any team with ambitions to challenge for major titles must have a defence that leaves the opposition — rather than their own coaches — weeping with frustration. No side ever won anything of note without neutralising the other lot’s most dangerous threats. Saturday was a reminder of that. Ireland play rugby to make the eyeballs bleed, you say? Fine. That’s their prerogative. Stop them. If you can. Sure, if we might use a football analogy, Joe Schmidt’s tactics may make Jose Mourinho look like Pep Guardiola at his most expansive. But they’re arguably the second best team in the world right now. Assuming no major law changes are on the horizon, it’s up to the rest to figure them out. In their penultimate outing of a Championship undermined by away-day struggles, Gregor Townsend’s team could not do that. They could not cope with areas of Irish strength — the kick, chase and challenge, the battering ram drives — that everyone saw coming. It’s also true, of course, that they ran into a team hardened by experience and ice-cool under pressure. There were a few moments, after the Scots had taken a 3-0 lead, when it looked as if Ireland might get sucked into trying to play the visitors at their own game. The wise old heads in the side quickly put paid to such a fanciful notion, almost physically grabbing their overenthusiastic team-mates by the neck and ordering a return to type. Flinty, clinical, absolutely convinced that their way is the right way. Ireland are all of those things. Plus the odd dollop of magic. There is a general feeling that, over the next year or two, Scotland will grow into a team who — although at the opposite end of the style spectrum from Ireland — possess many of those qualities. That won’t just happen. It needs to be worked at, individually and collectively, every single day. Townsend (left) has built on the good work laid by Vern Cotter to create something genuinely exciting. Expending a little care and attention on those defensive foundations, rock solid when England came calling but shaken badly in Wales and Ireland, should be his first priority.