Breaking Cardiff hoodoo gives Scotland ‘satisfaction’ despite feeble second half

Scotland second-row Grant Gilchrist admits there is a huge amount of “satisfaction” in beating Wales 27-26 in Cardiff but insists the team is ambitious enough to know there is a lot to work on.

The visitors had a great start to the game in Cardiff shooting out to a 20-0 lead over the hosts at the break in what was a magnificent first-half performance. However, it was a game of two halves as the Welsh geared up a powerful second-half comeback attempt that saw the game end with one point in
it.

Good to want more

Gilchrist was suspended for the clash and had to watch on nervously. Still, he believes any Test win is massive but does not mind his team wanting more.

“Winning at this level is tough,” he said. “And I don’t think that it’s a bad thing that we’re ambitious enough to want to put a complete performance out there.

“When you sit back and think that we’ve won in Cardiff for the first time in 22 years – that’s a big achievement. But we’re also not going to sit there and celebrate that as the perfect performance as we know we can be so much better.

“We showed that for 50 minutes with how in control we were. When you win a Test match you should always feel a sense of satisfaction and enjoyment because the amount of work that goes into that is huge and should never be underestimated.

“No matter what the scoreline is or what happened in the game – to get across the line in a Test match is huge.

“To win in the first game of the Six Nations is massive as you need to keep trying to build momentum throughout the tournament and winning ensures you can still do that.

“But having that little slant of disappointment is also no bad thing. It brought us in on Monday eager to learn how to get better in the second half and put a full performance together rather than coming in talking about staying grounded or any of these things.

“I feel it’s not a bad place to be, to feel a little bit disappointed despite winning in Cardiff for the first time in 22 years.”

Big loss

The second-row may well be thrown straight into the mix against France on Saturday especially after Richie Gray was ruled out of the tournament with a bicep injury – a loss which Gilchrist believes is massive for Scotland.

“It’s a huge loss, Richie’s a world-class player and a great team-mate,” said Gilchrist. “He’s a huge loss to the group and to me personally.

“We sit together and look at stuff all the time. It’s up to the rest of us to stand up. It’s not just on me, there’s Sam Skinner, Scott Cummings and Glen Young and we’ve all got enough experience and talent to fill that void, as much as we will miss the big man.”

Antoine Dupont-less France got off to a rocky start in the tournament after being put away 38-17 by Ireland in the opening round and Scotland are bracing for a bounce back.

“We’re preparing for the best version of them and we know what that looks like,” said Gilchrist. “We played them three times last year so we know what to expect. They’re a team we know really well and have had good results against.

“But we also know what it’s like if you don’t get it right against them. We know that if we’re at our best it’s a game we can win.”

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