Don’t blame coaches.. we must be mentally tougher
Grant says Scots players have to take responsibility for Italy loss
SCOTLAND stalwart Grant Gilchrist reckons the players - not the coaches - should take the rap for the things that have gone wrong in this Six Nations campaign.
And the Edinburgh lock insists the squad are totally behind head coach Gregor Townsend’s game plans as they aim to end the Championship on a high by claiming a first Triple Crown since 1990.
The pressure has increased on Townsend since Scotland lost to Italy for the first time in 14 meetings last week.
And Saturday’s match against defending champions Ireland in Dublin is sure to be much harder than last week’s game in Rome.
Gilchrist believes the players have to become tougher mentally so they can put in an 80-minute performance. That contradicts assistant coach Steve Tandy, who said earlier this week that he’d never question the squad’s mental toughness.
But Gilchrist claims that was one of the conclusions from last year’s World Cup, which ended with a crushing defeat by the Irish in the last pool game.
He said: “It’s something that we identified from the World Cup, that we need to be stronger mentally.
“We must manage momentum in games better and clearly it’s still a work in progress. There’s no quick fix for these things.
“At the weekend, the blueprint of how we can play was clear – and we did go away from that.
“Without intentionally doing it we got way too loose. We need to be loads better when we’re under pressure and when the ref ’s turned against us.
“We can watch over the last four games and see just how good we can be. But it can’t be for 40, 50, 60 minutes. It needs to be for 80 minutes.
“We felt like we prepared well and the game plan was right but it didn’t marry up with how we played in that period from the 33rd to the 70th minute. “It’s not how we trained, it’s not the plans the coaches have put in place, so who needs to take responsibility? The guys on the pitch.
“There are going to be times on Saturday when the momentum is against us – that’s for sure. So we will have a chance to prove we can cope with that.”
Asked if all the players were behind Townsend’s plans, Gilchrist said: “One hundred percent. It’s just about our ability to stick to a plan and make good decisions under pressure.”
Five months have passed since that 36-14 defeat by Ireland knocked Scotland out of the World Cup. But Gilchrist remembers vividly how bitterly disappointed he felt in the aftermath of that result.
“I was involved in the first try (for Ireland),” he recalled. “And every time I shut my eyes or switched my brain off, that’s what I thought about for weeks afterwards because that’s how much I care.
“When I was busy it was fine. But I’m sure all the boys felt the same – whenever we had any kind of spare time, when you’re in your own head, I was just thinking about that game because we didn’t show how we can play individually, collectively. That’s what was disappointing.
“This is still a chance to make a success of this tournament and that’s what we’re desperate to do.”
●Scotland Under-20s coach Kenny Murray has made four changes to his team to take on title-chasing Ireland in tomorrow night’s Six Nations match in Cork.
Three of the newcomers – centre Johnny Ventisei, prop Callum Smyth and backrow Jonny Morris – are from Glasgow Warriors.
Edinburgh full-back Jack Brown is the other change as the Scots seek their first win of the Championship.
We felt we prepared well but it didn’t marry with our play grant gilchrist says defeat is on players