THERE is an all-too-familiar script in Scottish rugby that we have seen played out with frustrating frequency over the years. It’s the one about the gallant losers: the team that threatens for a time to win a game, only to fall just short at the end.
We saw another run-through on Friday evening, when Scotland women lost to their Irish counterparts in the final play of the game. We witnessed something similar in the other match in the Broadwood double-header, as the Under-20s let slip a 19-13 lead to go down to a single-point defeat. And, with time running out at Murrayfield on Saturday, we were staring yet another re-run in the face as Ireland – a team which had been 21-5 down in the first half – went ahead 22-21.
The avoidance of such an agonising ending is testament to the new-found mental toughness of the national team. Rather than finding novel ways to lose, as was once the habit, Scotland are now a versatile outfit which can win a game via various routes.
In this case, the crucial player was Greig Laidlaw. This was not just because he scored the two penalties that gave Scotland the victory – his resolute leadership in times of crisis also helps the rest of the team to focus. The literal heavy lifting is done by the forwards, of course, but metaphorically it is the captain who shoulders the biggest burden, urging his team-mates on.
Not that this was a one-man effort. Far from it. Even those on the field only fleetingly made telling contributions, with Duncan Weir providing the best example. Involved for just six minutes while Finn Russell had a head knock assessed, the stand-off ended a lengthy Irish encampment in the Scots half with a prodigious kick deep into enemy territory.
The visitors came back to score again after that brief relief, but it was still a timely reminder that Scotland were capable of doing a lot more than merely soak up the pressure.
“We have a group of players who are very capable of winning,”said Scotland lock Richie Gray.
Almost the only pressure the home team had been under for the first half-hour was in the scrum, where Irish tighthead Tadhg Furlong had the better of Allan Dell. The penalising of the Scots loosehead at the first two set-pieces was a concern, but something closer to parity was achieved as the game went on, while in the lineout Scotland maintained the edge throughout.
It was a lineout that brought the game’s most memorable single passage of play, when centre Alex Dunbar – ordinarily off in the distance during the lineout, waiting for the forwards to sort things out – pulled off an audacious score.
Laidlaw and Tommy Seymour were also in there, but the Irish either decided the presence of three backs in the lineout was a ruse, or they were simply so confused that they failed to respond when Ross Ford threw in for Dunbar to catch and race over the line.
“It was a move we’d worked on a little bit,” said Dunbar. “I was just happy to catch the ball. And luckily there was a gap in front of me.”
That was Scotland’s third try of the afternoon, with less than half an hour having been played. Stuart Hogg had claimed the first two, with all three converted by Laidlaw.
From 14-0 down, Ireland had got on the scoreboard when Keith Earls touched down, but the immediacy with which Scotland hit back through Dunbar was a hint of the determination that was to come much later in the game.
A penalty by Paddy Jackson narrowed the lead to 21-8 before half-time. Iain Henderson’s score after 48 minutes was ominous, and then Jackson, who had converted that try, added a try of his own.
When Scotland hit back, it was that man Laidlaw who did the necessary. The scrum-half restored his team’s lead with a penalty eight minutes from time, and then, awarded another attempt inside the final minute, he let the clock run down to ensure his successful kick was the final act.
“This is the first step on the ladder,” said Gray. “The next step is to go and take on the French in Paris.”
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