I’m not the only one to blame!
Scotland captain says costly decision over penalty was down to team’s game plan
SCotLAND captain Rachel malcolm insists the decision not to take a shot at goal with a kickable late penalty that would have secured her team’s World Cup qualification can’t be solely blamed on her.
trailing by three points to ireland in the closing stages, the Scots inexplicably opted to kick for the corner and chase a try when a successful penalty would have drawn them level and secured third place in the Six Nations table — and a place at next year’s global showpiece.
‘it’s probably one that i’ll need to go and have a look back at,’ said malcolm. ‘(Going for the corner) was what we discussed beforehand about the gameplan and it’s a decision that’s not just on my shoulders, it’s one we take as a leadership group.’
malcolm added that the decision was based on the penalty’s positioning off to the right of the posts. there would have been an element of risk in backing Helen Nelson’s goal kicking, with her accuracy in the tournament just 55.65 per cent.
However, it’s not like the Scots wouldn’t have had further opportunities to attack after a missed penalty attempt.
the match was finely balanced throughout, with the Scots leading 5-0 at half-time through elis martin’s try. the irish responded early in the second half when winger Katie Corrigan crossed for an unconverted score.
Scotland regained the lead with a converted Lisa thomson try before ireland levelled with a Cliodhna moloney sevenpointer. twenty-year-old fly-half Dannah o’Brien kicked what was the winning penalty with six minutes to play.
it was then that Scotland kicked to the corner in search of a try rather than have Nelson go for goal. Several phases later, and with Scotland having showed no attacking variety, malcolm herself spilled the ball in a tackle and ireland cleared.
in fairness to malcolm, her side could still have won the game. But, although irish winger Beibhinn Parsons was yellow-carded for an intentional knock-on, Scotland failed to secure their final lineout with the clock turning red and ireland thumped the ball out.
it was a frustrating performance, but malcolm insisted the defeat and failure to improve on last year’s fourth-place finish did not deflect from Scotland’s progress in the last year.
‘it was a tight game that could have gone either way. it’s a difficult one to reflect on right this second. We are a team that want to compete with the top five in the world so to come fourth and lose today does feel like a little bit of a step back.
‘i’m disappointed, frustrated. there were opportunities where we could have won and we didn’t take them. But that doesn’t take away from what we’ve achieved this championship.
‘Pushing France close, coming away with two away wins, and pushing ireland up until the final whistle is an incredible achievement in a very difficult tournament, but that doesn’t mean we’re satisfied.
‘Defensively we put in a brilliant performance, particularly that first 40 minutes when ireland were really going at us. But we can’t defend for that length of time.
‘the conviction in our attack and the ability to put away opportunities is going to be the difference to take us to that next level.’
With possession inside the irish 22 in the dying moments, might Scotland have gone for a drop goal? ‘it wasn’t something that we discussed,’ malcolm said.
Head coach Bryan easson said post-match: ‘Hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?’
Scotland will go to South Africa in six months’ time for the WXV 2 competition they won last year, a title malcolm hopes they’ll retain to secure a 2025 World Cup place. ‘We’ve got an opportunity to retain our title so that’s going to be our focus. i’ve got no doubt, with the character and talent in this group, we will bounce back.’