Mixed Outcomes For Scotland In Cardiff

Wales 27, Scotland 13.  The final score is more reflective of 16 minutes of madness than the game as a whole which saw some crunching defensive displays, some excellent attacking rugby from both sides and some forward displays that will have the future Lions coach with some good but hard decsions to make in just over a years time.  You might say that is over-egging the achievements of some players in this game, but I defy anyone to suggest that the games from Denton, Lydiate and Rennie were anything but world class.  If Richie McCaw was watching, he would have had a smile on his face.

Scotland's efforts were undermined by a couple moments of poor play and decision making.  Well in the game at halftime with the scores tied at 3-3, Rhys Priestland's restart was neither caught nor let go by Cusiter, resulting in a lineout for the Welsh that provided the platform for their first real venture into the Scotland 22 and try. 

Scotland heads went down. Wales tails went up.

After Cuthbert's opener, Leigh Halfpenny would go on to score a further 22 points including 2 tries.  Scotland were left to rue their mistakes and make the best of what was left, but to their credit, they played around, through and over the Welsh for the final 20 minutes in a display that will do much for the squad confidence and the fans support.  That try even came too.

Many have reviewed the game in detail since, but I wanted to look specifically at Scotland, and see what good came out of the game and what bad let them down.  To do that, let's look at the tactics, the key refereeing decisions and then the contributions of each player.

Tactics

For a team struggling to score tries, going to Cardiff to play an in form Wales is as hard as any test match will be.  That means the fundamentals have to be right and scoring tries will come off the back of it.  To that end, Scotland got it spot on for 64 minutes of the match.  The other 16 minutes, straight from the kick off in the second half where Cusiter’s indecision to catch the ball or let it go led to a rare Welsh lineout and an attacking platform, ultimately leading to the first try of the game.  Scotland heads dropped and a period of madness ensued, typified by Nick de Luca’s off the ball tackle on Jonathan Davies which was a clear yellow card, a decision Romain Poite got right, except it was the touch judge that ruled it.

Once Scotland got their act together, they’d had two men sinbinned, and conceded three tries.  The remaining 20 minutes of the game saw a resurgence and Scotland playing the best rugby they have played for some time.  The introduction of Blair injected a bit of pace into proceedings, and the magnificent debutant Stuart Hogg was rampant as the game opened up. 

Scotland have always done well when chasing a lost cause.  It may sound harsh, but when pressure is off, particularly away from home, they play some of their best rugby.  Robinson wanted to show that Scotland had it in them, that they can create chances.  It was clear from the Calcutta Cup game that the creative part wasn’t necessarily the problem, it’s the conversion of those chances.  Sure, Hogg’s try should have stood, a decision that Poite got spectacularly wrong, but Scotland kept pressing and got their try through Laidlaw, their first in 386 minutes of rugby.

In a game of two differing halves, the first being a real battle where both teams knocked lumps out of each other and the second which was far more open and unpredictable, Scotland, on the whole, dealt with it well but for some poor individual decision making.

The Referee

Romain Poite is one of those referees that divides opinion.  I'm not sure that yesterday's game did him any favours.  Firstly, offside.

Mike Phillips tweeted after the game that the Scots were permanently offside.  I think a lot of that is to cover up the fact that he had a poor first half and was getting frustrated by excellent back row play slowing the ball down.  If anything, the Welsh backline were the ones flirting with the offside and sometimes blatantly so.  There's no doubt, the blitz defence was very well drilled, but they lived on the edge and all too often it would be ignored by Poite.  It wasn't until the 72nd minute that he penalised the Welsh line for being offside.

Second, forward passes.  I should caveat that I haven't had the chance to see it again, but the pass from Jamie Roberts in the lead up to Jonathan Davies being tackled off the ball by de Luca (and the ensuing yellow card) was forward.  At that time, a game changing moment.

Third, Hogg's 'non' try.  I tweeted during the game yesterday that in the NFL, any play that results in a score is automatically reviewed byt the TMO, or American equivalent.  I'm not suggesting that happen in rugby, but surely Poite must have realised he got that wrong and referred it to the TMO for review?  It was clear watching it in real time on the TV that Hogg lost control, yes, but regained it before the ball touched the ground.  It's a huge shame for Hogg who played wonderfully well in the second half and deserved the try on his debut.

Stuart Hogg was denied a perfectly good try on his debut

The Team

There were some really strong performances from Scotland players and a few weak links too.  Here is my run down on their efforts and scores out of 10.

Allan Jacobson  -              7

Solid in the set piece, ‘Chunk’ helped provide a very good platform for a Scottish scrum that didn’t really creak all game.  He also carried well, particularly in the latter stages of the game when Scotland were in the ascendancy.  Even with a line out catch to his name, he had a very fine performance for all 80 minutes.

Ross Ford            -              9

Ford led by example all game.  In a first half where Scotland often struggled to make ground with their phase play up through the middle, Ford was the exception who carried numerous times and always broke the gain line.  In the first half, he was heard having a conversation with referee Romain Poite about the Welsh front row hinging at the scrum.  Sure enough, at the next scrum, the Welsh were penalised for it, and Ford earned his team some respite and a chance to clear their lines.  Typical of his leadership, he ran until he was empty.

Geoff Cross        -              7

As the natural stand-in for the unavailable Euan Murray, Cross had a very similar game to Jacobson on the other side of the scrum.  Solid at the set piece and consistent throughout with his ball carrying, Cross looked very at home, no doubt helped by having his two Edinburgh colleagues at his side.

Richie Gray         -              9

Phenomenal in the loose, Gray must have carried more than any other player outside of the back row.  He dominated in the lineout and was a menace for the Welsh lineout, particularly in the first half where he helped to disrupt 3.

Jim Hamilton     -              9

Big Jim acquainted himself with George North early in the game, putting in a huge hit on the Welsh wonderkid, just to let him know he was in a game.  North never really recovered before going off with an ankle injury.  It also sparked the best quote of commentary from Jonathan Davies: “I think George North is big.  It’s just Hamilton is bigger”.  With him calling the moves at the lineout, he didn’t put a foot wrong and with Gray, caused havoc for the Welsh.  Solid performance in more ways than one.

Al Strokosch       -              7

One third of a back row that excelled, Strokosch was the slightly weaker link.  He tackled hard but felt the consequences, damaging his hand and getting a little fuzzy from one or two hits.  Fully committed, he epitomised the defensive effort form the Scots, particularly in the first half, literally putting his body on the line.

Ross Rennie       -              9

This was an outstanding No.7 performance from Rennie.  With his partner in crime, David Denton, the pair were everywhere and were fantastic at the breakdown, preventing the revered Welsh back row from a single turnover in the first half.  He looked nimble and mobile, carrying well and constantly making himself available to Cusiter, Laidlaw and his pack.  Exactly the kind of openside performance you want to see, and one that will see many around already thinking about Lions selection in 18 months.  First class.

David Denton    -              10

I’m struggling to think of superlatives to describe the 160 minutes of international rugby Denton has played so far in his short, but bright career.  He was everywhere.  The Welsh love to talk about Toby Faletau, but Denton put him in the shade, with epic performances both in defence and attack.  Without knowing the numbers, I would hazard a guess that he was easily the most ball carrying player on the pitch.  In defence, he was immense as he put in hit after hit.  Not much more to say about it really.  Top drawer outing for such a promising player for Scotland.

Chris Cusiter      -              6

Solid in the first half, Cusiter’s game will unfortunately be remembered for the indecision at the kick off to the second half.  That aside, he marshalled the pack well, but could be seen as being a little sluggish in a period when Scotland had the ball for 10-12 phases but were unable to make ground, in fact losing around 15 yards.  His partnership with Laidlaw was good, if unspectacular, but he did feed his willing runners well of first, second and third phase balls.

Greig Laidlaw    -              8

With so much hope and expectation lying on the shoulders of Laidlaw in the run up to the game, he dealt with the pressure very well.  In a first half that was more about defensive attrition than penetrating go forward rugby, he was patient and considered.  His creative abilities came far more to the fore in the final quarter when Scotland took the game by the scruff of the neck having lost three tries early in the second half.  He mixed the point of attack up very well, keeping it tight and spreading the ball when it was on, almost culminating in a try (which should have been given) for debutant Hogg.  Laidlaw was in no mood to let that incident drop the heads of his team, and instigated the next attack, where his scrum half ferreting skills came to fore to touchdown from a yard out.  Very accomplished, and growing into the role more and more.

Max Evans          -              5

Unfortunately, Evans didn’t have much opportunity to show what he could do, particularly in an open game like this one.  The ankle ligament injury he sustained in the first half will hopefully not be too serious and we can see him back soon.

Sean Lamont      -              7

Lamont had a lot more joy than last week at running at the Welsh backline.  Somehow keener to get his hands on the ball, perhaps motivated to square up to equally mountain sized centre Jamie Roberts, he had some useful carries.  His frustration towards the end when brought back for taking a quick penalty was perhaps childish, but clearly reflective of the missed opportunity that Scotland had, and resentment for the opening 20 minutes of the second half.

Nick de Luca       -              5

The score is not based on the fact I was unsure about his initial selection, but really about some of his decision making in the game.  The yellow card is a classic example of that.  Had he been Welsh, Gatland may well have fined him for such a stupid penalty, but as it was it took Scotland down to 14 at a time when they needed to be a full strength during the Welsh purple patch in the second half.  A couple of handling errors didn’t help his cause.  With Stuart Hogg impressing and likely to start in 2 weeks, and provided either Max Evans or Joe Ansbro recover from injuries, I can’t see NDL claiming a starting berth next time out.

Lee Jones            -              6

Not for lack of trying, but Jones struggled to find the space he craved so much to make an impact.  He never really put a foot wrong, but he didn’t quite have the effect he or Scotland were hoping for.

Rory Lamont      -              6

Despite his yellow card, that took Scotland down to 13 men for a 3 minute period, Lamont was solid.  Very good under the high ball all day when at full back or on the wing after Max Evans’ departure, he carried and ran well.  He’s not quite the running force he was a few years ago, and his place is far from secure with Stuart Hogg sniffing around for a starting place.  Hopefully the competition for places inspires a resurgence to form.

Substitutes

Congratulations must go to Stuart Hogg and Ed Kalman on their debuts.  As already mentioned a few times, Hogg was outstanding, particularly in the second half where he created lots from some dynamic running, with one notable break where he took a high ball and returned it with interest, coming off his right foot and leaving Jamie Roberts for dead.  His try should have stood, but his run, coming in off the left hand wing, helped set up the try for Laidlaw.

Al Kellock did well when he entered the fray, and continued Scotland’s success at the lineout.  John Barclay, although a little less mobile than Rennie or Denton, did OK and took over where Strokosch finished, committing himself fully to the cause as he always does.  Duncan Weir didn’t get on to get his first cap, but patience will surely see it happening before long.