townsend apologises to the fans for poor showing
GREGOR TOWNSEND didn’t pull any punches after Scotland’s sorry display in Cardiff yesterday.
After a catastrophic capitulation against England at Twickenham last year, the Scots surrendered on the road once again and barely landed a glove on Wales.
Asked if something had spooked his charges, the coach said: “Something obviously got to us because we didn’t play anything like we know we can play.
“We should be criticised for the performance as it was well short of what we should be doing. We apologise to the fans who have travelled to support us. The shock is we played so badly, given that we played so well in our last game.
“We weren’t focused or accurate enough and our defensive shape wasn’t what we’d like. Whether that was the nature of the game becoming so open or more likely our lack of focus I don’t know.
“The first 15 minutes was a bizarre test match as it was so open. It wasn’t what you’d describe as a 6 Nations game and we needed to be more accurate.
“The early try Wales got really sapped our confidence in hindsight and gave them momentum to go back and score another try.
“We weren’t accurate right across the board and allowed Wales too much possession.
“There was an element of chasing the game, especially in that second half when we didn’t need to do it as early, playing in our own 22 and giving Wales those penalties.
“We need to have a response this week. That was miles below what we need to do in the jersey and in this championship.
“There will be words but we still have a confidence and I believe in the players and in their determination to put it right, and we can make amends against France next week.
“The championship is always a highly- contested affair. We were badly beaten today, it was a defeat, but there weren’t many away victories last year and we just have to make sure that we play much better next week considering how badly we played today.”