Warburton slams the ‘missed chances’

SAM WARBURTON bemoaned a lack of accuracy after the interval that let Scotland score 20 points to win 29-13.

Back row Warburton said: “Our accuracy in the Scottish 22 let us down in the second half. We had good opportunities down there but wasted the chances.

“That let them off the hook and they grew into things, that was our downfall. They started to get turnovers and we began to get a bit annoyed with ourselves.

“Scotland definitely deserved the win and they put us under a lot of pressure.”

Skipper Alun-Wyn Jones believes Scotland’s ascendency in the contact area in the second half also played a part in their downfall.

“We were very focused on not letting their first guy fly into the contact area and

at first we did that pretty well,” he said.

“We knew they would be holding on in the ruck and potentially getting away with it, but that is rugby and teams get away with it.

“We dealt with it in the first part of the game, but when Hamish Watson came on he got in amongst us and was a real nuisance.

“He caused more bother in the second half and his team mates seemed to take confidence from that and we lost our urgency and started falling off a few tackles.

“That is how games can change at this level, but we will put things right next time out.”

In the winning camp, coach Vern Cotter was pleased with the way his side transferred pressure onto Wales after the interval.

“We felt that the first half was a bit scrappy, but we were still in things and we just had to tidy up on a little things and bring intensity,” he said.

“I wanted the guys to tweak their approach, but it was not all about me talking at half-time, the players spoke up and worked things out for themselves.

“I thought we took it to them and scored a couple of nice tries and it also pleased me the way we defended and held Wales out. The whole squad stepped up and I am delighted.”

Skipper John Barclay added: “Obviously taking over the captaincy and getting a win is very pleasing, but it is not about me it is about the team.

“I thought the way the young guys like Finn Russell and Ali Price stepped up and drove us forward in key positions was very impressive.

“As a team we upped the intensity and it was great to score those two tries and see the stadium rocking.”

Wales coach Rob Howley said: “We were quite happy with the way things went in the first half, but we needed to go to a new level in the second and it didn’t happen for whatever reason.

“We made it too easy for Scotland to get on the front foot and we were simply not accurate enough. The ball was turned over too many times, we were quite sloppy in possession and the contact area was just not accurate enough.”