We blew it – Hogg left to rue mistakes
SCOTLAND captain Stuart Hogg believes his side threw the game away after losing to Wales in Cardiff.
An enthralling encounter saw the encounter ebb and flow dramatically, with the score deadlocked 14-14 at the break.
The game was on a knife-edge throughout and Hogg was not in a rush to credit Wales after the match.
“We cost ourselves the game,” he said. “We pretty much chucked it away.
“When we give away a penalty or a knock-on that’s one thing but we compounded error on error.
“That’s when we get frustrated. That’s not a true reflection of where we are at.
“We killed ourselves in the last 20 minutes.” He added: “We were ahead because we showed the true reflection of what we are about. We were running on to the ball, getting in behind the defence, and changing the point of contact.
“We were pretty much doing the simple things well which was very effective for us.
“It got us field positions and points, but unfortunately we didn’t back it up.
“Test match rugby is all about competing for the small moments. Every single moment we get in the game we need to make sure we are winning these little margins to put us in the right areas but unfortunately we didn’t back it up.”
Stuart McInally insists Scotland remain in the Guinness Six Nations title hunt despite failing to end their long wait for a Cardiff victory.
Edinburgh hooker McInally said: “The initial feeling after a loss is devastation and disappointment, you want to deliver for the group and for the people of Scotland.
“It’s disappointing, but the Championship’s still wide open.
“We’ve got France at home next and we’ll go into that full of belief. We’ve had some good results over them recently and we can’t wait to move on.”