Ex-Ireland fly-half believes ‘fragile’ Scotland are ‘getting ahead of themselves’

Colin Newboult
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Scotland players during their Six Nations clash with Wales in 2024.

Scotland players during their Six Nations clash with Wales in 2024.

Former Ireland fly-half Ian Madigan has downplayed Scotland’s chances of Six Nations success following their victory over Wales at the weekend.

Gregor Townsend’s men claimed their first win in Cardiff for 22 years after they secured a 27-26 triumph at the Principality Stadium.

It was a historic win for the Scots, but there was still a sense of frustration after they almost let a 27-0 lead slip.

Cardiff capitulation

That Cardiff capitulation threatened to derail their Six Nations hopes, but they managed to see the game out and open the campaign with a win.

Ex-Ireland internationals Fiona Hayes and Madigan were not impressed by their efforts, however, as Virgin Media presenter Joe Molloy posed the question: “Do you think more or less of Scotland after Saturday?”

“Less, being honest,” Madigan responded. “It’s still their first win there in 20-odd years, but we still saw that they are fragile.

“At half-time, they would be thinking, ‘We’re never going to have a better chance to win a Grand Slam’. They always seem to get a bit ahead of themselves.”

Both head coach Townsend and captain Finn Russell were disappointed by their second-half display, with the fly-half calling out his team-mates for not listening to his instructions, which left Molloy bemused.

“Finn Russell was asked, and he’s that bit looser with the media, what happened? He said: ‘We got a bit complacent.’ Really, you shouldn’t be. You have no right to be complacent,” the show’s host said.

Discipline

Madigan thought that “it’s great to see that honesty,” before Hayes delved into Scotland’s disciplinary problems.

They conceded a series of penalties in the second period, which led to yellow cards for George Turner and Sione Tuipulotu.

Although Russell was annoyed by his team-mates, who he claimed did not heed his warning over competing too hard at the breakdown, Hayes felt the captain did not help their cause.

“A huge thing was their discipline. Wales didn’t concede a penalty in the second half, I think it was 11 for Finn Russell’s lads,” she said.

“To be fair, the way Finn Russell spoke to the referee at times, he got on the wrong side of him. When it was going Wales’ way, they just seemed to back down.

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Internationals