SCOTS MUST LEARN TO WIN MIND GAMES
AARON WALSH has been brought in by Gregor Townsend to help his players cope better under pressure. Based on their performance against Australia, the mental skills coach is going to have his work cut out. The New Zealander, who has a similar role with Super Rugby outfit The Chiefs, will start work with the Scotland squad from today ahead of Saturday’s game with Fiji. His involvement comes not a moment too soon. There was nothing between Scotland and Australia in terms of quality, but the Wallabies dealt with the pressure situations much better in front of a 65,286 crowd at BT Murrayfield. Blair Kinghorn pulling a last-minute penalty kick well wide when the heat was on is just the final straw.
The Scotland players were like rabbits in the headlights at times. They weren’t switched on enough when it mattered. Centre Sione Tuipulotu should have scored a try after a fine pass by Kinghorn, yet he let his mind wander for a split second when he was in an unmarked position and knocked on. Likewise, skipper Jamie Ritchie wasn’t alert enough to gather a pass from the fly-half that could have led to another try, while Grant Gilchrist knocked on with the try line at his mercy.
The worst example of not dealing with the white heat of a match situation came in the very last play of the game after Kinghorn had missed with his penalty attempt. Scotland knew the Aussies needed to get the ball out of play as soon as possible but would have to put the restart into the Scottish half. They should have been on their toes and ready. Instead, inexcusably, they were caught daydreaming, with the kick along the ground by Nic White bouncing between two experienced players — Gilchrist and Duhan van der Merwe — and within distance of another before going into touch. As the Australian players celebrated at the final whistle, the frustration on the face of Scotland captain Ritchie was clear to see. This was a game the Scots should have won. Kinghorn will get the blame for his missed penalty but he wasn’t the only one who buckled. Good luck to Walsh as he tries to put things right mentally in the Scotland squad between now and the 2023 World Cup. If he manages to get the players better able to deal with pressure situations, then Scotland will start winning close matches.