Relieved Scots finally learn from their past heartaches

Cotter’s men break nine-game losing streak

As they’ve been bred on a much harder thing than triumph, you could excuse Scotland’s weary team their trudge around the pitch at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday after the cathartic 36-20 win over Italy.

One suspects there were more than a few with a cynical and Calvinistic eye wondering if breaking a nine-game losing streak in the championship was worthy of “a lap of honour”.

Some would have that the current squad are the poorest – statistically – in Five/Six Nations history, although you have to do a fair bit of bending of the actual statistics to make that work, making one wonder whether the verdict was decided before the evidence was compiled.

There are equally plenty of wide-eyed sorts able to indulge in similar hyperbole from the opposite extreme, the “In Vern We Trust” mob who think Scotland were only ever a couple of bad bounces or bad refereeing decisions away from Grand Slams.

As usual, the truth lies somewhere in the middle, like “the lap of honour”, which was nothing of the sort. The team simply wanted to go round the yawning Roman bowl and applaud the loyal fans who had come 1,200 miles to cheer them on without having had much justification for doing so over recent years.

It’s been a depressing ride over two years, and even now it’s over it shouldn’t just be discarded as bad memory. In fact, the lessons learned from those games – so many of which were lost by a score, or as the result of a marginal decision (by players, not by referees) – should be ingrained into the psyche of the Scottish squad.

Some of the lessons learned from the losing streak were enacted on Saturday. There was the composure and support lines for the opening two tries scored by John Barclay and John Hardie, when Stuart Hogg and Finn Russell’s breaks were fully capitalised on, when previously such opportunities had been forced and lost.

Almost every chance Scotland created brought points, with Greig Laidlaw’s boot punishing Italy’s flagrant killing the ball at the breakdown. The scoreboard, as in the overused cliché, ticked over just as it was supposed to.

There were far fewer errors, there was more pace on the ball from breakdown, the lineout was immeasurably better than it had been against Wales. The driving maul, one of Italy’s prime weapons of choice against Scotland in recent times, was neutered by some aggressive defence, evidence of Nathan Hines’ work as assistant coach.

Italy’s other preferred weapon over the years has been the scrum, but they were utterly unpicked here for the real foundation of Scotland’s win.

Several times the home side’s momentum was stalled by the Scots front row of Dickinson, Ford and Nel putting destructive pressure on, not least the penalty won in the shadow of the Scottish posts after a sometimes desperate defensive stand. It was a reassuring staple for a Scottish side that played a lot without the ball in the second half that a knock-on by either side would probably bring some relief.

There were still unsolved issues from the losing streak as well, not least awful re-start defence that gave Italy masses of territory and possession in the same way it did Samoa during theWorld Cup.

However, all that – and two yellow cards – did was make the game seem a little more tight than it ever really was. While Italy were pushing hard in the second half, they were never closer than six points and for the majority of the time nine points adrift needing two scores.

Yet evidence of how much the Scots needed reassurance came at the end, when they surprisingly opted togo for the kill – with 14 men after WP Nel had a brain storm–and Hogg beautifully served a try on a plate for Tommy Seymour.

As the wing scampered around behind the posts, his euphoric team-mates rushed to him in the obvious release of knowing a Six Nations win was finally safe. So much for the streak not weighing heavily on the squad.

The squad’ s togetherness is clear, Ryan Wilson coming in at the 11th hour and being a key figure in the early surge. The back row balance was retained with Hardie and Barclay outstanding, although they did miss David Denton’s ball-carrying.

In the backs, Hogg was a constant threat, and Russell commanded the game well. A little more from Tim Visser and Mark Bennett would have been welcome, but you can’t have everything.

Having con signed the streak to history, the temptation is to forget it. But Scotland have not metamorphosed into a championship challenging team by virtue of one win over the Six Nations’ weakest side. Let’s not assume what almost everyone all did after the Rugby World Cup quarter-final.

The streak should still be fresh to be the fuel to build the team into a competitive unit in the championship – by way of results, not just patronising plaudits – means it could have long lasting benefit.

For a start, one would hope the team go into the next match against France still fizzing from the fact they’ve not beaten them since 2006.

That’s another streak they can think about shutting the history book on.