DEFEAT IS HARD TO TAKE BUT WE REALLY ARE GETTING BETTER
THIS Six Nations campaign has been a massive improvement from last year, but Scotland will be disappointed to end it with their defeat in Dublin. Jonny Sexton controlled a frantic game and the tone was set by Ireland’s domination of possession in the first half.
They had 80 per cent of the ball in the first 40 minutes — only New Zealand would have been able to stay in touch against such a bombardment.
Ultimately, that factor proved the difference. The Scots also lost the breakdown battle, which proved crucial.
Our big impact players in the back row — John Hardie and John Barclay — who have been so effective in this Championship, just did not have the chance to influence this game.
For me, the power the Irish runners put on the ball in that first half caused the flurry of penalties. Scotland conceded seven inside the first 25 minutes and that was because they could not dominate that first collision.
CJ Stander was a raging bull and ran onto the ball with such pace. The Irish blind-side has laid down a real marker in this tournament.
Yesterday, Stander and Co, who were coming to clear out the ball, came through very quickly and the Scots were caught on the wrong side.
Ireland were coy — once someone is on the wrong side of the breakdown, you lock them in there, paint the picture for the referee and take the penalty.
The two yellow cards hit Scotland hard, too. Losing 19 points during those 20 minutes with John Barclay and Alex Dunbar off the field proved to be too much.
You could see the guys trying to run the ball and find a way back into the game.
But when you are down to 14, it puts immense pressure on your fitness and ability to cover in defence. Those are the fine lines in international rugby — sometimes you have to give away penalties, but you cannot afford yellow cards.
Stuart Hogg was class again. He was able to pick out a gap in the Irish defence for his try and was helped out expertly by Tommy Seymour running a great line which kept Rory Best, the outside defender, on him. Mike Ross did not have the gas to keep up and once Hogg got through, he dropped a gear, hit top speed and ran it home. It was a brilliant effort.
I thought we saw a hard edge from Richie Gray, too. He is getting more involved in the physicality of the game, running on to ball really well. He has had a good tournament.
Stepping back to assess the whole Championship, winning three games for the first time since my team did it in 2006 would have been a huge jump from the wooden spoon in 2015. However, I think two wins for Scotland is a pretty good gauge of where we are right now.
They are a year wiser under Vern Cotter, have more understanding of each other and their game-plan. They have moved on completely from last year.
What they have shown is that they can compete with these teams — which they should be able to with the quality of players now at their disposal.
The attack has been very good — Scotland have scored an average of just over 24 points a game and notched a total of more than a century of points in the Six Nations for the first time.
Try-scoring has come more easily too, with 11 this year, their best ever in the Six Nations.
But we do need a little more in defence. That will come from the key guys in the team like the backrow and the centres — they make the lion’s share of the tackles and so they will need to be at the forefront of the improvement there.
Scotland need to kick on again next year and should target two wins again, if not three, especially with Ireland, Wales and then Italy at Murrayfield.
Finally, I would like to salute Greig Laidlaw. He has now captained his country a record 26 times and passed 500 points yesterday.
He has really kicked on this season and has led the team very well. Greig has proved himself as an international performer.
I think two wins is a pretty good gauge of where Scotland are right now