Opinion: Time for Scotland’s golden generation to actually deliver
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend, Finn Russell, Darcy Graham, Sione Tuipulotu and Duhan van der Merwe.
2024 marks 25 years since Scotland’s last Championship title success and possibly their best opportunity to win the Six Nations for the first time.
Gregor Townsend featured in all four of Scotland’s Five Nations matches in 1999 when they claimed the trophy, which was ultimately the final Championship before Italy were added to the competition.
Now, can he finally break his country’s title drought with a golden generation, or will it be another disappointing campaign?
Copeable schedule
Winning the Six Nations is no easy task, but if Scotland are to finally get their hands on the title, then this season is an excellent opportunity to do it with a manageable fixture list.
First up, they head to Cardiff to tackle Wales at a ground they have not won at since 2002.
22 years is certainly a long time, but as centre Huw Jones explained, the side’s success in recent campaigns makes this year’s opening game less daunting.
“It’s not really been a huge talking point for us. We are obviously aware of it, but it’s not a primary motivation to go and break a record,” Jones said.
“We’ve done it with England, we’ve beaten France away, there’s a few things that we’ve done over the last few seasons to change those records. Having done it a couple of times, it makes it less daunting.”
The centre is spot-on, and what tips the scales even further in Scotland’s favour is the fact that Warren Gatland has named an extremely inexperienced squad for the Championship – we saw how a young team fared during the World Cup under Eddie Jones.
Yes, Wales and Australia are completely different sides, but what the Wallabies proved last year is that experience is worth its weight in gold in international rugby. Meanwhile, Scotland are in a different ballpark with an experienced and settled squad.
Wales certainly won’t make it easy, but they never will, and this year is arguably their best chance to end their Cardiff drought.
Going back-to-back
Quite frankly, if they really want to lift the title on March 16, they should defeat Wales, but replicating what they achieved in 2023 and winning their first two games will be one of their biggest challenges as they welcome France to Murrayfield.
Scotland managed to achieve that feat last year, admittedly against a second-string Les Bleus team before the World Cup, but in the other two fixtures against Fabien Galthie’s side, they were in with a good chance of winning. Gael Fickou’s last-minute score bloated the scoreline to an 11-point difference in the Six Nations clash, and Thomas Ramos’ late penalty sunk them before the World Cup.
France minus Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack certainly gives Scotland a bit of an edge if they produce a similar performance to what they did in 2023. Scotland are underdogs for the Championship and will be for the clash against France too, and while they may not need to beat Galthie’s charges to clinch the title, doing so will give them massive confidence for the remainder of their title bid.
Round three will see Scotland host England at Murrayfield, and on recent clashes, the Scots have the upper hand, winning the last three games against their bitter rivals. Their neighbours have enjoyed a massive upswing in form with Steve Borthwick, but they will be confident of making it four in a row, particularly after enjoying a break after the clash with France.
If Scotland are three from three or even two from three at this point, a win in Rome over Italy should not pose too much of a challenge – with respect to the Azzurri – and will line up a potential title decider at the Aviva with Ireland.
Again, this route won’t be easy, but no Six Nations title run is.
The players to get it done
Much has been made of the quality of this current crop of Scotland players, and rightly so.
There is no doubt that Finn Russell is comfortably among the best fly-halves in the game and has been given the added responsibility of co-captaining the side – something he should thrive with. He wasn’t quite able to unlock the Springbok and Ireland defences as he usually does during the World Cup but he has enjoyed stunning form at Bath and again the captaincy and improved relationship with Townsend should give him an extra bounce in his step.
Yes, WP Nel is a notable absentee with the prop stocks under pressure, but all the nations are dealing with their injury concerns. Of course, it is a crucial position, and it will be a challenge, but the kind of adversity a champion side needs to overcome.
In the back-row, Rory Darge is coming into his own, not only as a leader but as an out-and-out starter. Jamie Ritchie has been stripped of the captaincy, but allowing him to focus on his game might be the perfect tonic for the loose trio makeup and also allow Townsend to select a horses for courses back-row tailored to their opposition. Jack Dempsey has proven his quality over and over again, while Matt Fagerson is the kind of grafter that never goes out of style.
We saw just how brilliant and lethal Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones can be in the centres, and with Cam Redpath, Rory Hutchinson, Stafford McDowall and Chris Harris breathing down their necks – despite the latter’s absence from the original squad – they will be hellbent on keeping their spots.
Kyle Steyn, Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham, who is a doubt, are all world-class finishers.
Finally, Stuart Hogg’s retirement was set to hit the side hard, but Blair Kinghorn rose to the challenge and arguably added more value in the full-back jersey in 2023 than Hogg did in his final two years.
Time to shine
During the Netflix documentary Full Contact, Townsend claimed in a team talk that ‘the best of us beats any team in the world.’ It’s time to prove that, and it’s time to be consistent.
Scotland are a fantastic side to watch when they get their tails up on attack, and with Steve Tandy running their defence, it has a real bite. Not to forget the impact Peter de Villiers has had on their scrum with their lineout the only major concern.
But really, they haven’t been able to churn out victories consistently. After a bright start to the 2023 Six Nations, they fell off in the big games and ended with a limp.
With a ‘golden generation’, a good coaching staff and a favourable schedule, Scotland need to pounce. If they don’t this year, or in 2025 either, we will probably look back at the Townsend era as ‘what could have been’.
