It’s not the end of the

“Yokohama feels like another world,” said Gregor Townsend after Saturday’s match, referring to the next time these twonationsmeetintheworldcuppoola opener in September.

The weather will certainly be different in Japan, although forecasts of a potentially occasion-ruining storm at the weekend failed to materialise. A bit of a reverse Michael Fish as conditions failed to rise above what those with many a Scottish winter under their belts would call “a bit blowy”.

The action was gale force in a breathless first half before the men in green grabbed the second half with a Hulk-like grip and took the wind out of the home team’s sails.

Behind the “world No 2 team beats world No 7 team” simplicity lies a more nuanced story. Scotland had the champions rattled at times and Townsend wasn’t playing Pollyanna when he flagged up positives and his pride in the performance.

Ultimately, however, the Irish got more things right than the Scots – something they have been doing pretty much constantly in rugby terms since the turn of the century.

After the loss in Dublin last year Townsend said Scotland were “three or four years behind” Ireland, which he later clarified didn’t mean he believed it would take that long to catch up sufficiently to beat them.

It is now 223 days until the showdown in the land of the rising sun but Townsend said: “I was speaking to [Ireland assistant coach] Andy Farrell before the game and we both said Yokohama feels like another world.

“We’ve got a pre-season, a World Cup training camp to get through, it’s the first game of the World Cup so how well you do in your camp, and how well you get your plays in place in those [World Cup warm-up] friendlies will have more relevance than this game.”

Before all that there is still more than half of the Six Nations to go which, following Saturday’s loss, can’t help but look a tad foreboding. Trips to Paris and Twickenham where previous successes lurk in the last century sandwich a home clash with a Welsh team which, whatever

3 Greig Laidlaw is third in the list of Scotland’s points scorers. happens in round three, should have a sniff of a shot at the title after winning their first two games. Scotland played a full part in as entertaining a half of Test rugby you’re likely to see on Saturday. It may not have been peak quality, though some of it was, as mistakes on both sides brought things alive and there was an unfortunate loss of a star participant from either side as Stuart Hogg and Johnny Sexton left early because of injury.

Scotland skipper Greig Laidlaw opened the scoring with the first three of eight points that now leaves him third, just onebehindsecond-placed Gavin Hastings, in the alltime list headed by Chris Paterson. An unfortunate mix up between Tommy Seymour and Sean Maitland saw Conor Murray pounce for a gifted score, though he failed to re-gift a touchdown closer to the posts to his half-back partner Sexton, who shanked the conversion.

Sexton’s deft pass drew a crushing hit from Scotland prop Allan Dell but released Jacob Stockdale under the posts moments after Hogg had been Italy v Ireland Stadio Olimpico, Sun 24 Feb, 3pm

Round 4

Scotland v Wales BT Murrayfield, Sat 9 March, 2.15pm

England v Italy Twickenham, Sat 9 March, 4.45pm

Ireland v France Aviva Stadium, Sun 10 March, 3pm

Round 5

Italy v France Stadio Olimpico, Sat 16 March, 12.30pm

Wales v Ireland Principality Stadium,sat 16 March, 2.45pm

cleaned out by Peter O’mahony after a chip ahead, to the disinterest of French referee Romain Poite, who can probably consider himself off Laidlaw’s Christmas card list.

The next present came from Sexton’s replacement Joey Carbery, whose pass was picked off by Finn Russell. The Scotland stand-off didn’t quite h gas to burn off the covering Iri Keith Earls but he showed mor burgeoning composure and m with a sublime pop off the floor Johnson to notch his first Test tr second appearance.

In hindsight, the match tur the closing moments of the firs a long encampment on the Iri one phase of which milked a which expired to advantage ove repelled by heroic Irish defence

Scotland couldn’t lift it after the break, their setpiece faltered, as Ireland solidified and Earls claimed the clinching try.

“It’s really about our execution If we get our setpiece play into t game then you can build so man off it,” said Townsend. “The ef players put in was outstanding, frustration is we didn’t keep them under pressure beca couldn’t get to those multi-phas of the game that we did in the fir

Next Scotland face another hu ical test against France, who b even bigger if perhaps not as c