Time to give this Scotland coach and team overdue credit - and the unlikely half-time motivator

If you had said that Scotland would be sitting second going into the final two rounds of the Six Nations after losing to Italy in the opening game, I don’t think anyone would have believed you.

That defeat came in horrendous conditions in Rome, but conditions alone didn’t explain it. It felt like a psychological blow as much as anything else. There was a sinking feeling all too familiar to Scottish fans, and accusations about the squad’s mentality and consistency. Another Six Nations derailed before it had properly begun.

A week later Scotland were utterly sublime in dismantling England. Then in Cardiff on Saturday they were, if we’re being honest, pretty woeful for 50 to 60 minutes. And yet they did something Scotland sides haven’t often managed: they found a way. In the last 15 minutes they pulled a rabbit out of the hat.

Scotland's Rory Darge celebrates as George Turner (centre rear, obscured) scores his side's vital fourth try during the the win over Wales in the Guinness Six Nations match at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff. | PA

They didn’t play well — nowhere near it — but for years the criticism of Scotland was that they couldn’t win in that manner. When games became arm-wrestles, when they turned into slugfests, we tended to come up short. The narrative was always that Scotland were a good team when the game was loose, played at high tempo, when Finn Russell could pull strings and the backline could play on the front foot. But in tight contests, in ugly contests, we lacked the edge.

Moment that flipped the match on its head

Yes, there were a couple of fortunate calls late on and that helped us. The Darcy Graham try completely flipped the match on its head but momentum is so important in Test match rugby. Suddenly the belief was back, the energy shifted, and Wales were the ones hanging on.

Now there’s a break and it feels like a moment for reflection. Since the autumn — after the defeats by New Zealand and Argentina — there has been a lot of scrutiny and criticism of this Scotland side and Gregor Townsend from all quarters, me included. The same followed the loss to Italy. Even the win over England was slightly dismissed as if it were merely the minimum response expected.

And this weekend’s victory in Cardiff? Some have diminished it because of Wales’ struggles.

If the criticism is that Scotland are a team who are unable to back up big performance after big performance, a team who struggle to control the tight physical exchanges, a team that can’t grind out a dog fight and come away with a win, then shouldn’t this team be given the credit due in how they got over the line on Saturday in Cardiff?

It’s the nature of sport, of course. It’s fickle. You’re a hero one week and the villain the next.

Look at England. Two weeks ago, some were calling them the best team in the world. They certainly aren’t. Now others say they’re the worst. That’s not true either. But the Six Nations is such a condensed, emotional championship that everything is magnified across five rounds.

England were on a 12-match winning run and Steve Borthwick was the mastermind. In round one they put 48 points on Wales and talk quickly turned to a potential Grand Slam decider in Paris. In fact, talk of a Grand Slam began well before the first game.

A week later they were blown away by Scotland in a one-sided contest. Then, on Saturday, they were outplayed and embarrassed at home by Ireland — totally humbled, there’s no other way of putting it. There will be some serious soul-searching taking place in that England camp right now, as well as a brewing storm in the English media.

Why you need an anchor

They will be asking how they’ve got it so wrong for two weeks running with a game model that was so successful over the previous dozen games. And to be honest, if the All Blacks or South Africa turned up next weekend, you wouldn’t be shocked if England beat them.

Scotland's George Horne (left) is tackled by Wales' Jarrod Evans. The scrum-half brought great energy when he came on. | PA

That’s the nature of this tournament. It’s relentless and it’s emotional. You’re facing four or five of the best teams in the world in successive weeks. For fans it’s a rollercoaster. For the players and coaches living it, it is even more intense.

That’s why you need an anchor.

People get tired of hearing coaches talk about processes and game plans, particularly after defeats, but those are the foundations. They’re what you return to when the noise gets loud. If you don’t have that grounding — if you’re not constantly reviewing your performance against the standards you’ve set — then you drift. And once you start drifting, it’s very hard to know who you are as a team.

You spend so long drilling detail, analysing opposition, refining tactics. You have to believe that those fundamentals are what will win you matches. There are always areas to improve, but without that core belief you’re vulnerable to every swing of momentum and every external opinion.

In Cardiff, Gregor Townsend clearly felt something had to change as the first half unfolded. He introduced Pierre Schoeman and Josh Bayliss for Nathan McBeth and Max Williamson after 35 minutes, and shifted Gregor Brown into the second row. It was a bold and decisive decision taken by Gregor although I’m not sure it had the immediate impact he might have hoped for.

He has a quiet authority

Nathan and Max had made a couple of errors and perhaps struggled physically in certain collisions. Certainly, they took the brunt of the coaches’ frustration from Scotland’s scrappy performance in the first half. But the substitutions alone didn’t spark an instant turnaround, although Bayliss did add something with his footwork and pace and Schoeman, as ever, brought physicality and work-rate.

There was an injection later in the game from the bench with the introduction of George Horne who brought his usual tempo and energy, something which Scotland had lacked for much of the first hour. Up to that point, they had been sloppy across the board. The real momentum change came from Finn Russell’s quick restart to Darcy Graham. Without this, I’m not sure I could see a way for Scotland to claw themselves back into the game.

Scotland's Rory Darge celebrates at the final whistle. He ripped into the players at half-time. | PA

After the game, Townsend spoke about Rory Darge ripping into the players at half-time. Some will ask why that wasn’t the coach delivering the message. But that’s not always the coach’s job. Errors and work-rate belong to the players. Seeing Darge hold team-mates to account is a really positive sign.

He speaks really well in the changing room and on the pitch; not a lot but when he does it is always measured and with quiet authority. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him ‘lose it’ as such, or really raise his voice. He has developed enormously over the past few years as a player and particularly as a leader. As a former Scotland captain and one of the most consistent performers in Europe, he leads through standards as much as words.

He has been excellent in all three championship games. The fact he can challenge the group and then respond with his own performance says a lot.

There’s a healthy balance in the leadership group. Sione Tuipulotu's obviously captain and he's very passionate. It comes through in how he plays. Rory’s quieter and unassuming but gets through so much work and his standards are so high.

And then you have Finn who's the other corner of that leadership triangle. What he does on the pitch is obvious to everyone. Finn leads the line in terms of his creativity and his vision and how he allows Scotland to play.

It’s a blend that is working. Since Rome, they’ve responded. Now the challenge is to do it again, against France and Ireland.