Townsend heartened by Scotland’s display despite Dublin defeat
Coach proud of his side’s display against the Irish Teams will meet again in crucial World Cup clash
If anyone was expecting Scotland coach Gregor Townsend to be contrite or downcast after a 20-point beating in Dublin, they instead met a fierce defiance. “We’re proud of how we played,” he said. “We wanted a response away from home and we got one. We didn’t get the result, but that performance, with finishing a bit better, will be good enough to beat the best.”
For Scotland fans of a certain vintage, Haddenesque excuses about the importance of performance after yet another away defeat have a hollow ring.
A quick look at the stats suggests that Ireland did plenty enough to win: they had 62 per cent of possession and 63 per cent of territory, made 173 carries to Scotland’s 128, made 601 metres to 415, made eight line breaks to four, won 151 rucks to 93 and made 135 tackles to 190. Yet teams with the ability to score from deep often win games when they are on the wrong end of the stats table and Scotland showed enough to suggest Townsend has a point. An interception try for Ireland and three butchered two-on-ones suggest that this was, as Ireland coach Joe Schmidt said, “a one-score game where we had a 20-point buffer”.
Crucially, Scotland achieved one of their major objectives in that they did not suffer stage fright away from Murrayfield.
“That performance was miles ahead of the one in Cardiff,” said Townsend. “It might sound daft, but that mentality, the way we defended, the detail in our game apart from the finishing, is what we need to win away ... we caused a very good side a lot of problems.”
Scotland travelled to Dublin with a theoretical chance of winning their first Championship since 1999, but for Townsend and his players this game has a wider significance. In 18 months Scotland play Ireland in the World Cup, in a match that is shaping up to be central to both sides’ campaign, with the winner likely to play the runner-up in Pool B (possibly South Africa), while the runner-up in Scotland and Ireland’s group are likely to meet the winner of Pool B (probably New Zealand). Townsend knows he is playing catch-up, but believes Scotland’s trajectory means that game in Yokohama, is one they can hope to win. “This group of Irish players has been together for a while and they’ve had a lot of success, especially at the Aviva,” he said.
“We’ve done well at Murrayfield and we have to make sure we take our chances away from home.
“The more games we’re involved in that are close, or we win, we’ll get that confidence and they’ll take us to a place where we’ll contend more regularly.”
And Townsend was not the only Scot to reference the World Cup in the immediate aftermath of the Dublin defeat. Winger Sean Maitland said: “We know we’ve got them in the World Cup, and that’s
always at the back of everyone’s heads. There are 18 more games until then, but we know we’ve got a long way to go if we’re to get to Ireland’s level.”
For now, Scotland’s focus switches to Rome. A victory there would leave them with three Six Nations wins for a second year running. Not that Townsend is taking anything for granted against Italy, who have a habit of beating Scotland in Rome.
“It’s going to be tough,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure we end the championship with a positive display and result.”