SAME OLD STORY
Scotland dared us to dream but everyone saw the end coming
BETTER than the football? Don’t believe it for a moment. Different, yes. But full of the same ‘what-if ’ recriminations that make up the losers’ lament the world over, regardless of code.
Those turning up at — or tuning into — Murrayfield in search of an antidote to national humiliation at Wembley found nothing but more of the same heartache, wrapped up in an all too familiar package.
All the blithering about cruel misfortune in suffering another narrow loss to Australia, dragging up memories of last year’s World Cup defeat and seeking shelter behind blaming the referee, the bounce of the odd-shaped ball or the sporting gods, it misses one crucial point. If you’ll pardon the expression.
Losing once in freakish circumstances may be unlucky. Doing so twice against the same opposition, within the space of less than 13 months, that’s careless. Much like Scotland’s performance under pressure in the final 20 minutes on Saturday.
During the build-up to the first of three autumn Tests, members of the Scotland coaching staff had spoken about the hardfought improvements made over the past year. One even cited game management in the closing stretch as an area of huge advance, talking optimistically about how this team had learned ‘not to cough up a lead’ late on.
Yet anyone with vision not too blurred by drink, plus a head just clear enough to think, could see Saturday’s loss unfolding in super slow motion. The brilliant start, the daring play, the tries, the running, the absolutely wonderful meshing of ambition with ability — it convinced most to dream, yet never to actually expect. We’ve learned the hard way not to take any lead for granted.
And, when Australia started squeezing the home side, when they began to punch holes in a defence looking just a little leggy, a touch short of big-game practice in comparison to their up-and-running opponents, there was an inevitability about the denouement.
A converted try wins it for the Aussies by a single point? Well, you just know what’s coming. A subsequent slip-up gives Scotland possession and a late chance to win it all with the 80 minutes up? Never. Going. To. Happen.
The fact that Scotland had victory within their grasp has already been seized upon by some unthinking cheerleaders as proof positive that Vern Cotter’s players deserve to be considered for membership of the game’s global elite. Why, surely by standing shoulder-to-shoulder with one of the best sides on the planet, the Scots have shown themselves to be a genuine force, right?
Argentina will be vanquished in Edinburgh this weekend, the Georgians turned over as a matter of course at Rugby Park in just under a fortnight — and then, for his final trick, Cotter will orchestrate a Six Nations challenge for the ages, a perfect farewell present to a grateful nation.
It could still happen. But it would be nice to think that the frustration and misery so obviously felt by Greig Laidlaw, a captain who has spent his international career dragging Scotland forward, cajoling and directing, leading by example when words weren’t enough, permeated throughout the squad.
That isn’t always the impression given. Certainly not in the aftermath of a game when a need to accentuate the positive had been programmed into the players deigned responsible enough to speak on behalf of the squad.
Allan Dell, the former Springboks Under-20 star now conveniently relying on a Scottish granny to break into the senior international ranks, seemed almost thrown by the idea that a loss — even one containing many positives — should be analysed in an almost brutal fashion, in order to identify and rectify faults.
‘There is a fine line,’ insisted the debutant. ‘You don’t want to be too critical. You’ve got to look at the positives or you won’t go forward. If you focus on the negatives and are too critical, you will take backward steps.
‘We had Australia, a very good side. We will look at the positives and work on the negatives. Fix those and then look to Argentina.
‘When you lose a game by 40 points, you know you’ve been beaten. If you lose by one, you know you could have won it. Lose by one and you are that close to elation. It’s now about building and moving forward.’
Ah yes, building and moving forward. The catchphrase so beloved of politicians caught making a hash of their department — and sports teams desperately trying to salvage something from defeat.
Scotland should take heart from the fact that they scored three tries against an Australia team who had just flattened Wales.
Encouraging, too, was the discipline in defence. For 65 or 70 minutes, anyway.
Dell, laughing as he recalled centurion Ross Ford telling him that his first Scotland appearance would fly past, admitted: ‘Everyone says it goes in a flash but, my goodness, I was looking at the clock sometimes — and it wasn’t moving quickly. In the second half, it slowed down.’
By the time they finally conceded, Scotland were definitely hanging on, grimly trying to defend their six-point advantage and offering only occasional kick-and-chase breaks up field.
The problem is that in rugby, unlike football, sitting on a lead isn’t quite a matter of simple patience and positioning. You can’t just pass it around in your own territory, keeping possession and letting the other team chase the ball.
In a sport where the opponent is not only entitled but encouraged to knock hell out of the ball carrier, where every tackle is the cue for close-quarters combat, there is no easy way to wind down the clock.
The fact that it’s so hard is just one of the reasons rugby is such a great sport.
And Saturday’s inability to do the hardest thing in the game is why, whatever some may tell you, Scotland still have some way to travel before they can be considered even within touching distance of world class.
More of the same familiar heartache