World for Scotland

ave the sh wing e of that aturity for Sam yonhis

ned on t half as sh line, penalty r,was

. . he y things fort the but the putting use we e facets st half.” ge physoast an ohesive pack as Ireland’s. “I think our gameplan is based on what we want to do,” said Townsend. “And that was the pleasing aspect [from Saturday], we were up against a team that are fit, but we were able to play the way we wanted to play in attack and in the first half that brought rewards.

“Whether against France we have to be different, they jackal a lot more in contact, but we’re not going to change the way we play the game.” Amidst the disappointment of defeat there was a ray of elation in the Scotland camp as D’arcy Rae became the country’s 1,103rd capped internationalist. The 24-year-old Glasgow tighthead prop, pictured left, replaced Simon Berghan in the 69th minute.

“It’s a special day, even though we lost,” said the Ayrshireman. “A dream come true, especially for my family. There were 14 of us at the game, a fair old contingent from Troon!”

Tradition dictates that debutants must regale the rest of the squad in song but Rae added: “I’m not a good singer. I might do Incy Wincy Spider.” so much of that you can take. If that’s what every Saturday entails foryouasatopno10, it’s not very exciting for you, it’s pretty brutal.”

Townsend, pictured, a former

Lions stand-off himself, was having none of it, though.

“They all seemed legal to me,” said the Scotland coach.

“I think obviously the ref gets a chance to look at them back. A lot of the time it was man and ball and he’s putting other people into space.

“He [Sexton] is such a good play- 2 Main: Jacob Stockdale breaks clear to score Ireland’s second try in the gritty win over Scotland at BT Murrayfield. Above: Sam Johnson touches down for the hosts’ only try. Left: Stuart Hogg is withdrawn after only 17 minutes after picking up a shoulder injury. er and he showed his resilience because he got a dead leg early in the game and kept on playing.” Townsend will be more concerned about the medical update on his star fullback, Stuart Hogg, who also departed in the first half on Saturday in controversial circumstances with a shoulder injury after being taken out by what looked an intentional late tackle by Irish flanker Peter O’mahony. Townsend said Hogg was “feeling sore” but the player was able to watch the rest of the match from the sidelines.