Six Nations: Wales v Scotland reaction: second half collapse evoked memories of 2010
GREGOR TOWNSEND wanted to focus on the positives after his team secured a first victory in Cardiff in 22 years yesterday [Saturday] afternoon, but admitted that the harrowing memory of Scotland’s 2010 collapse at the same venue did begin to creep into his mind as he watched an unheralded Wales score 26 unanswered points through four tries and three conversions between the 47th and the 68th minute of this Six Nations opener, to come within a whisker of snatching a dramatic comeback win.
“The 2010 match here when I was assistant coach was coming into my thoughts as the second half went on,” he said. “I remember the atmosphere that day and Wales had the momentum and came back on the scoreboard and the same happened today.
“Fortunately, we stayed ahead and we were able to play well in the last five minutes. A lot of effort went in that last five minutes and we could’ve, should’ve scored a try. We felt there were a couple of penalties in there that could have gone our way during that passage but at the end of the sequence we were past 80 minutes and had got the win.”
Scotland had started the game as positively as they could have hoped for, patiently building pressure on the scoreboard through monopolising possession and taking advantage of opportunities – even kicks at goal which they have had a habit of passing up in the past – when they presented themselves.
But the game swung a full 180 degrees in the blink of an eye early in the second half, and while Wales should be given credit for the resilience they showed to turn things round, the extent to which Scotland lost control of proceedings through poor discipline and sloppy game management will need to be analysed and addressed ahead of the visit of France to Murrayfield next Saturday.
“We were really clean and efficient in our half [during the first half]. Ben White and Finn [Russell] kicked well, and Kyle Rowe handled the kicks that were coming his way,” recalled Townsend.
“We didn’t have that many opportunities but we grew in confidence and were accurate and we put Wales under pressure. To score those two tries was a really good reward – sometimes you don’t get that in first halves, but to have that cushion should have made it a more comfortable second half.
“The fact that it didn’t [go that way] is a concern for us. A lot of that was to do with the penalty count and the numerical advantage Wales had for 20 minutes. That created problems and created pressure and Wales played their best rugby in that period, too.
“I don’t think it was anything to do with a change of gameplan. We went out in the second half with the same mindset but we couldn’t get on ball and had to defend a man down.
“Crazy stats … it was nine penalties against zero,” he added. “Wales didn’t concede a penalty in the second half. 16 penalties to four in a game we were 27-0 up in just doesn’t seem to make sense but we’ve got to look at where we can improve.
“We were getting penalised for things around the tackle/ruck area and offsides that Wales weren’t getting penalised for. We have to be better. To concede 16 penalties, no matter if we thought they were harsh decisions, it’s going to put you under pressure, and it did.
“But we’ve got to take a lot of pride in the win and the performance because it was our first outing in four months and how we started that game and the second half [was very good]. I know how hard it is to win here, both as a player and as a coach, so I feel pride that we’ve managed to finally get the win at this stadium. But I know the assistant coaches are not thinking like that. The forwards and defence coaches are thinking, ‘that can’t happen next week’, and we know it can’t.
“We know next week is a totally different challenge against a team that has been one of the best in the world for a number of years and are coming in on the back of a defeat. They will be a big threat to us and we’ll have to be better.”
Injury updates
Townsend expects to have Rory Darge back for the visit of Les Bleus, to add some bite in the back-row and share the leadership role as co-captain alongside Russell, but Scotland look certain to be without second-row Richie Gray and flanker Luke Crosbie.
“They’re both in a lot of pain,” revealed the coach. “Richie knew straight away that it was a bicep injury, so that doesn’t look good for this championship.
“Luke’s is a shoulder injury which is a painful one now but that might settle, though probably not for next week. Let’s hope he’s not done any significant damage there.
“It’s a blow to lose two players who are in our starting team. Richie is a very experienced player for us and Luke has been outstanding this season and took the game to Wales.
“We’ll just have to adapt. We’ve got Grant Gilchristcoming back from suspension and we’ve got a lot of competition in the back row. I’m sure guys will be able to step up when they get the opportunity next week.”
Meanwhile, the performance of Rowe on the occasion of his first Scotland start (playing slightly out of position at full-back), and the contributions of debuting props Alex Hepburn and Elliot Millar-Mills off the bench, provided Townsend with some succour.
“I thought the bench was excellent and added speed and stuck with what we were aiming to do in the second half when we hadn’t had the ball for a while,” he said.
“The three of them haven’t played much rugby for us and two of them have only been in our system for 10 days.
“Alec Hepburn’s carries, Elliot Millar-Mills’ scrum and almost getting a jackal at the end, Kyle Rowe was a calm, assured presence and had to field a lot of high balls. I thought he did very well because he’d not played in that position a huge amount but he is a skilful all round player and just seemed really calm in the Test environment.”
