Rudderless Scotland lacked bite as the going got tough against Irish

THE second half at Murrayfield on Sunday made for painful viewing as Scotland’s Six Nations chances went down the drain. The opening 40 minutes had promised so much. Scotland had caused Ireland plenty of problems and only trailed by a point. They were well in the fight. The visitors led 8-7, before Scotland effectively imploded courtesy of a desperately poor performance in the second half. There will be no Triple Crown or Six Nations title this year for Gregor Townsend’s team, only questions and recriminations. Here, Sportsmail’s CALUM CROWE takes a look at the second half and picks the bones out of where it all went so badly wrong.

LACK OF A KILLER INSTINCT

In a way, Scotland’s demise actually started in the couple of minutes immediately before half-time.

After winning a penalty just fractionally inside Ireland’s half, there was a decision to make. They could either go for the three points, or kick for the corner.

It was a long way out, but Stuart Hogg seemed to fancy it. He has a huge boot on him and has proven in the past that he can kick long-range penalties.

Hogg talked it through with Finn Russell and captain Jamie Ritchie, before the decision was taken to go for the corner.

The passage of play eventually finished with hooker George Turner attempting an ambitious finish in the corner as Scotland sought to keep the ball in play.

But it was to no avail. Ireland muscled him into touch and that was that. Scotland must have known how important scoreboard pressure would be against the world’s no 1 side.

This was emblematic of their profligacy in the first half. Townsend and several of the players spoke about it afterwards. They knew they had left a couple of tries at the very least out there. Contrast that to the ruthless way in which Ireland sniffed out chances and scored a couple of tries in the second half. They taught Scotland a lesson in being clinical.

LACK OF LEADERSHIP

THIS is something which is now becoming a concern for Scotland. Ritchie is undoubtedly a fine player on his day, but is he really captaincy material?

Sunday was the first time that alarm bells really started to ring over his suitability to lead this team. It was just basic errors.

Scotland were marched back ten yards for ill-discipline in the first half — and they repeated the exact same mistake at the start of the second half.

Ritchie was the guilty party. After the outstanding Mack Hansen had won a turnover for Ireland, Ritchie questioned referee Luke Pearce, claiming the Ireland winger had been off his feet.

Granted, captains are allowed to have a certain dialogue with the referee, but they can’t make their point quite as forcefully as Ritchie did with Pearce.

‘You can’t question decisions in my face like that, Jamie,’ said the referee, before marching Scotland back ten yards once again.

Ritchie is a terrific player with many fine qualities, but he hasn’t convinced since taking the captaincy from Stuart Hogg back in the autumn.

He hasn’t grown into the role as many hoped he would. Any team can show a slight naivety at times, but you don’t expect it from the captain.

Scotland showed a lack of gamemanagement and a lack of leadership on Sunday. Ultimately, that’s on Ritchie as skipper.

Ireland were able to adapt, overcome an injury crisis, and solve problems on the hoof. The Championship was on the line and they got the job done. Scotland, meanwhile, sank without trace.

IRELAND’S WING WIZARDS CAST A SPELL

IT WAS notable just how little impact Scotland’s wingers had. Duhan van der Merwe and Kyle Steyn had been excellent previously in the Championship, but Ireland kept them well shackled.

Scotland were not able to do the same with Ireland’s wingers. Hansen and James Lowe were absolutely magnificent, with the former rightly named man of the match.

There was a moment in the second half, immediately before Ireland’s second try, when Hansen’s influence on the game really shone through.

Giving chase to Jamison Gibson-Park’s box-kick, Hansen outjumped Van der Merwe to claim the high ball.

It should have been a no-contest. Van der Merwe is a giant compared to the little Irish winger. But, damningly, the Scotland man failed to even get off the ground.

After Hansen had secured possession, Ireland then went through the phases, before the ball was fizzed wide for Lowe to score in the corner.

Even beyond his try, Lowe was highly influential throughout. Some of his kicking, in particular, was excellent. In the end, Ireland’s two wingers were arguably the two best players on the pitch.

FAILURE TO APPLY PRESSURE IN THE LINE-OUT

IRELAND played pretty much the entire second half without a hooker, due to

injuries to Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher. That should have been a green light for Scotland to attack their line-out and apply as much pressure as possible.

Josh van der Flier ended up having to deputise, the openside flanker throwing the ball in at the line-out for the whole of the second half.

Van der Flier’s talents need no introduction. He’s the reigning World Player of the Year. But he’s not a hooker.

Scotland should have targeted him and put him under far more pressure than they did. They needed to make Van der Flier doubt himself, but they gave him a fairly easy ride.

Speaking on co-commentary, former Wales skipper Sam Warburton explained how Scotland should have targeted him with pods of forwards at the line-out. Essentially, they should have had their tallest line-out jumper at the front and made Van der Flier throw the ball over him.

But Scotland’s approach was confused and disjointed. They didn’t put the ball into touch anywhere near enough and, even when they did, they gave Van der Flier an easy ride.

LACK OF SNARL AND STREETSMARTS

THERE was a moment late in the game which summed Ireland up and typified their ruthless win-at-all-costs mentality.

Peter O’Mahony and Jack Conan smashed Blair Kinghorn into touch, before really laying it on thick with some exuberant celebrations right in front of the Scotland man. O’Mahony pressed his forearm into Kinghorn’s chest after making the tackle, essentially pinning him to the ground, and gave it big licks with his celebration.

It was physical, it was vocal — and it showed exactly how this Ireland team love to noise-up the opposition.

Quite simply, there aren’t enough Peter O’Mahonys in this Scotland team.

Too many nice guys, not enough Peter O’Mahonys.

This is a guy who has left Murrayfield countless times over the years with the lunch money of Scotland players rattling around in his pocket.

If rugby is a game of legalised violence and brutality, O’Mahony is exactly the sort of warrior who thrives in that environment.