Jones demands focus after turmoil
Coach seeks answers in bid to end one of elite rugby’s oddest hoodoos, writes Richard Bath
By most sensible criteria, there should only be one winner in today’s match at Murrayfield. Wales have won 12 matches in succession and are trying to win a third Grand Slam under Warren Gatland. Scotland are without key players and their air of invulnerability at home – where they had been undefeated in the Six Nations for more than three years – was exploded by Ireland in a curate’s egg of a loss, which they backed-up with a miserably lacklustre defeat in Paris.
The bookies have Wales winning by between three to six points to set up a Grand Slam showdown in Cardiff against Ireland next Saturday, and the odds makers have a point. Last year Wales thrashed Scotland 34-7 in Cardiff, and under Warren Gatland the Welsh have won 11 of their 12 meetings. But why are Scotland so relentlessly poor against Wales?
Last year, after Scotland went to Cardiff with high hopes only to be humiliated by a severely depleted Wales team, Gatland said that he expected Wales to beat Scotland by 20 points. As Scotland assistant coach Matt Taylor conceded: “In my time with Scotland we’ve had some bad performances against them, particularly down there, and one or two performances where we’ve been unlucky not to get the result. It’s difficult to put a finger on why.”
The 2010 game, when Scotland led 24-14 in Cardiff with three minutes left only to lose 31-24, is far more typical of matches between the nations than Scotland’s rare 29-13 win at Murrayfield two years ago.
“I don’t know,” said Scotland coach Gregor Townsend when asked why Scotland underperform so consistently against Wales. “It’s frustrating and disappointing that we’ve not managed to pick up more wins.
“Wales have evolved their game. They went through a period with Jamie Roberts at 12 where they were very direct, round the corner, then for the last two or three years
they have moved the ball a lot more. Now they’ve gone back to the old way of playing in the last few weeks, and it’s worked. Hadleigh Parkes has taken up the Jamie Roberts role, they’ve picked a physical back line, and they’ve picked physical forwards.
“But the one constant has been their defence, which is outstanding. We don’t think they’ll change from that this week. They’ll try to use their power to force penalties, force field position and try to get us to play and get the ball back from us.”
In November, when Scotland lost 21-10 in Cardiff, they kept it tight, relying on tempo around the breakdown and Ali Price’s breaks, which were a constant threat. Although Wales won, they created little, both tries coming from Huw Jones missed tackles. In attack Scotland scored a try and had three more disallowed.
“Wales’s system and their aggression mean it’s hard to find gaps in their front line, and they compensate by having a full-back, whether it’s Leigh Halfpenny or Liam Williams, working really hard to pick up any kicks. So they’ve got the formula right,” said Townsend.
“They’ve got the best defence in the world. Their points conceded is the lowest of any side, and every championship-winning team’s performance is based on their defence. We believe there are ways for us to pick holes against them and produce quick ball, which is the key to successful attack, and in November we did that pretty well in the second half when we got over the line on four occasions.
“We have to take what we learned in November into this game, because the way we played created enough opportunities. But against Wales you’ve got to take them.”