Scotland show pride in exit after fightback
Better to go out bravely on the pitch than in the law courts, writes Daniel Schofield in Yokohama
After all the protests and unseemly threats, this was Scotland’s chance to do their talking on the pitch and kill the Japanese fairy tale. They managed the first part but not the second. Yet they depart in the group stages for just the second time with their heads held high after engaging in one of the great World Cup matches.
Many teams would simply have downed tools at 28-7 down against a Japanese side who had played 50 minutes of near total rugby. Yet Gregor Townsend’s men managed to pick themselves up off the canvas and register two tries in five minutes. After rallying from a similar position at 31-0 to rescue a draw against England in the Six Nations, hitherto absent belief started coursing through their veins in a raucous atmosphere.
The equation was always foreboding. After Japan registered a four-try bonus point, Scotland needed to match that tally and pull a further eight points clear. It proved an impossible target.
But my how they gave it a crack – and the host nation the fright of their lives.
The inquest which always accompanies such exits will focus on the flatness of their defeat against Ireland. Surely they can have few regrets for how they acquitted themselves at the Yokohama International Stadium yesterday. Certainly there is no shame in losing to such a marvellous Japan team. Indeed the Japan head coach paid tribute: “Scotland were unbelievable,” Jamie Joseph said.
Even in the gloom of a World Cup exit, there were plenty of bright sparks. Flanker Jamie Ritchie terrorised Japan at the breakdown, appeared on the shoulder of every Scotland break and made 24 juddering tackles, although there is a blemish over an apparent dropped elbow on Yu Tamura. The performances of Magnus Bradbury and Jonny Gray were not far behind.
Then there was Finn Russell. No player did more to haul Scotland back into the game. There are more consistent fly-halves, but none who engineer so much excitement as Russell running in broken field.
In many ways these sides are a mirror image of each other, relying more on pace over physicality, skill over size. There seemed to be an agreement to refuse to kick for territory. It made for a frenetic contest, the best of this World Cup so far. End to end it went, a frenzied helter skelter of a match with no chance to draw breath in the stands, never mind on the pitch.
Scotland controlled the first 15 minutes, striking first through Russell’s try before kissing goodbye to the ball for the next 35 minutes. It felt like they were scaling a block of ice. Every time they got a foothold, they slid back down again. You can pick holes in some of the one-up tackling but when strike moves are so slickly executed with every offload sticking there is only so much you can do. When Chris Harris coughed up the ball to Kenki Fukuoka for Japan’s fourth try, you felt it was going to be one of those dark nights for Scottish rugby. Instead they rallied. Prop WP Nel plunged over and five minutes later, Russell was the instigator and Nel’s replacement Zander Fagerson the finisher. There was hope. Agonising hope. Townsend felt they lacked accuracy in the final quarter, but there was no lack of effort.
So they fell short. At least they will be remembered for going toe to toe with an inspired Japan team. Far better for that to be their legacy at this tournament
than a tawdry lawsuit.