NO SILVER BULLET FOR SCOTS
Townsend’s squad make a hasty retreat from the scene of the crime — but painful inquest may provide more questions than answers...
We can’t just ignore the criticism. It’s all over social media
SPEEDING past Mount Fuji at nearly 200mph in a Japanese bullet train would normally be considered quite the thrill. Yet as Scotland’s dispirited World Cup squad made an especially hasty escape from the scene of Sunday’s crime, there was little time, nor appetite, to take in the moment.
While there is no shame in losing to the side ranked No 1 in the world, it was the manner of the Scots’ defeat to Ireland in Yokohama which continued to gnaw away at players and supporters, alike, yesterday.
In the immediate aftermath, when asked what had gone wrong, head coach Gregor Townsend admitted his side lacked ‘energy, accuracy and aggression’. That answer merely spawned more questions.
Indeed, why would any side be found wanting in such areas in the opening match of a showpiece occasion, especially after such a lengthy period of preparation? The coaching team will no doubt be reflecting on that for some time to come.
Yesterday, it was the turn of Townsend’s captain Stuart McInally to face the inquest. His response? Well, he had no answers. Not yet, anyway. But he was acutely aware of the criticism coming their way.
South Africa assistant coach Matthew Proudfoot, who played a handful of Tests for Scotland, was sympathetic if particularly damning in his verdict, saying: ‘I felt for the Scottish mates of mine. Gregor Townsend is a good mate.
‘I think they are not built for wet-weather rugby. They try to play the quickest rugby in the world and got behind on the scoreboard.’
A clearly emotional McInally seemed particularly affected by it all, especially the discontent coming from back home, admitting: ‘We can’t ignore it (the criticism). It is all over social media. It isn’t something we go looking for. Unfortunately, it is the way it is and you do stumble across it.
‘We know we did not play well but it was not through lack of effort or through lack of preparation. Everyone took the field and everybody did all they could to win that game.
‘Sometimes, you don’t play well and we didn’t play well. We have to learn from it, of course we do, but we can’t just bin it and forget it.’
In fairness to McInally and his team-mates, no excuse would be considered palatable after such a feeble and fragile display. It’s the response that can Scotland can muster on the field of play that ultimately matters.
To that end, the two-and-a-half hour train journey to Kobe, where the Scots will take on Samoa on Monday, was spent watching re-runs of the defeat to Ireland.
It remains to be seen if any meaningful lessons will be learned — but, in terms of motivation to ensure such a calamity is avoided in the remaining pool games, it may prove a more than useful tool.
‘On the train, there were laptops out and everybody was watching the game,’ said McInally. ‘Nobody was forgetting about what had happened and we have to watch it.
‘We need to make sure we learn from the game. Then we have to switch our focus to Samoa, that is the most important game now. Nothing changes, whether we had won or lost yesterday.
‘We knew we had to win these three games to guarantee qualification out of the group, so that is where we’re at.
‘We’re gutted but the focus is still there to play well in the rest of this tournament and make sure we do what we want.’
Once McInally arrived at the team hotel in Kobe, a full 24 hours after the defeat to the Irish, it was clear that he was still coming to terms with what had happened.
What has made it even tougher for the Edinburgh hooker to take was that he genuinely thought his team had done everything right in the run-up to the match. For things to unwind so badly was a real shock to the system.
‘I looked back at the week to see if there is anything we could have done differently but I don’t believe we could have,’ said McInally. ‘All that was left for us to do was perform and we did not perform. That is why it is frustrating.
‘We always catch up on the pitch when it is just us at the end. We had a huddle on the pitch and Greig (Laidlaw) and Finn (Russell) spoke well. We were brutally honest with ourselves as that was not the level we expect of ourselves.’
McInally will sit down with Townsend in team meetings over the next few days to discuss why Scotland’s Achilles heel of losing early tries continues to haunt them. It took just five minutes for James Ryan to open Ireland’s account. ‘Ireland are a quality side and they started with loads of energy and we struggled,’ said McInally. ‘I have watched the game back a couple of times now and they just seemed to get on top of us at the start. When we had the ball, their line speed was causing us problems.
‘We weren’t as accurate looking after the ball as we would like to have been. They got the better of some of the collisions as well, which is why they went on and won the game.’
Scotland centre Duncan Taylor was another senior player called into the post-mortem and knows his team needs to find a quick fix.
‘We know we are in must-win territory already in this World Cup and that was always going to be the case if we lost to Ireland,’ said the Saracens star.
‘There are no grey areas, we are going to have to win the next three games. That’s just the way it is. There is no room to hide, so we need to show we are capable of a reaction and that’s what we are focusing on ahead of the Samoa match.’