WASTEFUL SCOTS TAKE A KICKING
Hogg’s rage is shared by the nation as home gaffes hand victory to Ireland STUART LETS ANGER OUT
IT was just before half-time when Stuart Hogg finally snapped. After watching from the sidelines as another Scottish try-scoring opportunity was wasted, he kicked a hole in an advertising hoarding in frustration before storming up the tunnel.
An entire nation knew how he felt. Every missed chance, every poor pass, made for agonising viewing at BT Murrayfield.
Removed from the fray with a shoulder injury after 16 minutes, Hogg would have realised the importance of the pivotal moment when Tommy Seymour was stopped just short of the Irish line in the 39th minute. The try was still on, but the normally reliable Jonny Gray knocked on, gifting a scrum to Joe Schmidt’s relieved visitors.
Make no mistake, Saturday presented Scotland with a golden opportunity to beat the second best side in the world, a team under serious pressure following the previous weekend’s hammering by England in Dublin.
Instead, Gregor Townsend’s men blew it, largely because of a dreadful accumulation of mistakes throughout the match.
With the pendulum swinging in Scotland’s favour following Sam Johnson’s remarkable first-half try — created by probably the best pop-up pass you’ll ever see from a grounded Finn Russell — Gregor Townsend’s side could have found themselves in front at the interval rather than 12-10 down.
Yet despite the Scots being camped inside the Irish 22 and going through 25 phases, they still couldn’t emerge with so much as a point from that crucial spell.
The green defensive machine had held firm. No wonder Hogg kicked out with such ferocity.
With momentum lost, the streetwise visitors came bouncing off the ropes before shutting the match down completely in the second period.
The fact Hogg’s game lasted just 16 minutes was maybe an omen for what was to come, the full-back falling victim to a late challenge from Peter O’Mahony which went scandalously unpunished by referee Romain Poite and could yet result in a citing for the Irish back row.
The French official didn’t do the home side any favours, missing an obstruction in the build-up to Conor Murray’s opening try among other things.
Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw remarked afterwards that Poite ‘doesn’t seem to like us’ but, in the cold light of day, the referee’s interpretation of things was far from the main reason for defeat.
Laidlaw just had to look around his own dressing room after the final whistle to identity the main culprits.
All three of Ireland’s tries — especially the first and third — were easily preventable and will have defence coach Matt Taylor reading the riot act between now and the trip to Paris in a fortnight.
For the first, wingers Seymour and Sean Maitland were badly at fault.
A chip and chase from Jacob Stockdale forced Seymour to rush back under pressure from Chris Farrell to gather the ball. He did well to get it away but then panicked and rushed his pass. Maitland had moved in far too close to take it, and only managed to get a fingertip to the ball as it sailed over his head.
Irish scrum-half Murray, who had done well to anticipate the mess, didn’t need a second invitation before picking the ball up and running in to score.
Ireland’s second came a minute after Hogg had been replaced by Blair Kinghorn and Scotland were frantically trying to regroup.
It also proved to be Johnny Sexton’s last significant contribution before he was hit late by Allan Dell in another incident which might lead to a citing.
The world-class Irish fly-half managed to get the ball away to winger Stockdale, who shrugged off an attempted tackle from Stuart McInally to run straight down the middle to score under the posts.
Ireland’s third try, in the second half, was a disaster for Dell and Rob Harley.
The pair let Sexton’s replacement Joey Carbery slip between them near the halfway line, both Scots almost tackling each other in the process.
Chased down by Kinghorn, Carbery ran up the middle before a superbly timed pass put winger Keith Earls in to score.
Oh if the Scots had taken more inspiration from Johnson’s marvellous try in the first half, when they were already trailing to Murray and Stockdale’s efforts.
It wouldn’t have been scored had it not been for the genius of Finn Russell. Not for the first time, he was being relied upon far too much.
The fly-half picked off a telegraphed pass from Carbery aimed at Rory Best before haring off, leaving the Ireland defence in his wake.
Grounded by Earls just short of the line, Russell didn’t panic. As he lay on his back waiting for support, he popped the ball up to Johnson who went over for the try.
It was breathtaking stuff. But it also gave the fans false hope — and perhaps summed up the notion that, although Townsend’s team can play some beautiful rugby, they still can’t quite take that next step to really mix it with the big boys.
Witness the second period, when a catalogue of handling errors and poor passes eradicated what promise there had been.
Townsend, in his dual role as attack coach, tried to take some of the heat off his players by insisting he was to blame for the defeat.
But he will no doubt be thinking long and hard about why his team simply didn’t turn up in the second half. Whatever was said to motivate them at the break didn’t work, with only a Laidlaw penalty to show for their efforts afterwards and Ireland taking control far too easily.
The lack of energy in that second 40 minutes was also worrying from a Scotland team who pride themselves on their fitness.
Ireland were no great shakes in that department either — and it was like watching two tired old prize fighters slugging it out near the end.
Some of these Scots have a lot to prove in the next outing against France.
Gray, for so long a crucial
member of the side, gave away at least one silly penalty on top of his knock-on and struggled to make an impact.
Centre Huw Jones was on for the full 80 minutes but was pretty anonymous. Seymour and Maitland didn’t get a look in on the wing.
Kinghorn, who initially started well as a replacement, dropped the ball under no pressure at all, gifting the Irish vital possession.
The loss of back-row forward Ryan Wilson with a knee injury at half-time was an obvious blow, with replacement Harley among those who struggled.
But credit Ireland. They showed Scotland how to grind out a victory when you’re not firing on all cylinders.
Townsend’s men seem incapable of doing that right now, depending too much on the individual brilliance of Hogg, Russell and Laidlaw.
Scotland haven’t won in the Stade de France since 1999, the year they won the last Five Nations title.
Twenty years on, the pressure is on them to pull themselves together after the loss to Ireland and triumph in Paris again.