PERHAPS the best measure of how Scotland have progressed of late is their reaction to the first two rounds of the Six Nations Championship. There have been some seasons when they have been relieved, if not outright happy, to have won one of their five games in the competition. Now, they are dissatisfied after having won their first match well and only been beaten in their second by six points.
There is always a place for self-criticism, of course, and there are obviously parts of Scotland’s game where there is room for improvement. But at times in recent years the squad has been self-critical merely out of frustration rather than a real belief that they can get better. This time, they are reproaching themselves in the knowledge that they definitely can keep on getting better.
“I really enjoyed both games,” tighthead prop Zander Fagerson said yesterday after being asked to reflect on the opening 27-22 home win over Ireland and the subsequent 22-16 defeat at the Stade de France. “I learned a lot. As long as you learn from your mistakes and get better, that’s the main thing.”
It would be one-sided to suggest that Scotland lost in Paris as a result of their mistakes, because France obviously deserve some credit for their victory. In fact, arguably the major factor in the outcome was the injury count suffered by the visitors, who lost Greig Laidlaw and John Barclay before half-time, and substitute John Hardie just after it. At the same time, France showed greater stamina than Scotland had hoped, or at least they were able to use their bench in a more planned manner.
Nonetheless, speaking before it was announced that Laidlaw will miss the remaining games of the tournament because of his ankle injury, Fagerson still clearly felt the frustration of the things that went wrong on Sunday, and seemed convinced, as team-mates had been immediately after the game, that this was one that got away.
“It wasn’t ideal,” he said. “It was a tough game, but we came through it and have to regroup and look forward to Wales now.
“Certain opponents do different things at certain times, and sometimes you get it right and other times we haven’t, so it’s about consistency. And keeping on learning.
“The French were a big team, but I didn’t think that power thing played a lot into it [the defeat]. It was more about processing stuff and getting height, getting your bind and the right shoulder in and consistency in set-up.
“I’d say it was technique and a bit of everything else. We did some good things, some bad things. After Ireland we came in and reassessed and saw what France were going to offer, and sometimes we gave them some of those things on a plate.
“I think they got tired, but they had good replacements and for some reason we didn’t click at times. The game-plan did at times and not at others, and we let them in and come at us.
“When we kept hold of the ball we had a good attack and that showed us what we can do when we keep the ball. It was a tough game, though.
“We have to regroup. We’ve had a good review already and see what we did wrong and then look forward to Wales.”
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