State of the Nation: ‘Close but no cigar’ Scotland on the right track but ‘statement win’ still eludes Gregor Townsend’s side
Scotland skipper Sione Tuipulotu and head coach Gregor Townsend.
Following the conclusion of the Southern Hemisphere leg of the 2026 Nations Championship, we update you on the state of the participating nations. Next up, it’s Gregor Townsend’s Scotland.
Scotland headed into the Nations Championship cursing what might have been and, to an extent, emerged from the Southern Hemisphere leg expressing the same frustration.
Having walloped England and stuck 50 points on champions France, they were never going to be satisfied with a third place finish in the Six Nations.
Their high-end progress was clear – seven tries against that French team an extraordinary achievement. Yet not to collect even a Triple Crown, thus extending to 26 years their run without any form of Six Nations silverware, was a bitter pill.
Make no mistake, this is as good a group as Scotland has had. And so it was that head coach Townsend strode to the start line for this alternative Race Across the World and challenged his players to step it up again.
Their fixture list took them to three different continents in as many weekends, pitting them against the world champions (South Africa) at altitude, a team (Argentina) that embarrassed them in the autumn and an island nation (Fiji) on the rebound from a hammering by England.
“No matter,” would have been Townsend’s attitude at the start of their 18,000-mile odyssey. “This is about us.”
A month on, how does their response look? Pretty good, actually. The Scots unarguably raised their level, despite picking Finn Russell only once. They beat both Argentina and Fiji and pushed the Springboks closer than anyone expected.
They reach the competition’s halfway point trailing only France in the Northern Hemisphere table, a four-try bonus in each game making them top Home Union nation on 11 points.
Yet this is a team still in need of a statement win with lasting consequence to validate its belief it belongs among the very best.
Beating England and France were epic one-offs but there was no Six Nations title to show for them. Losing heavily in Ireland cost them even a Triple Crown, which would have been their first since 1999.
Defeating New Zealand back in the autumn would have been a first ever in the fixture, but having levelled from 0-17 and seen the All Blacks reduced to 14, Scotland let that slip.
A maiden win over the Springboks in South Africa in this inaugural tournament offered another historic opportunity to elevate them, as never before, in the eyes of the world.
Again, close but no cigar. With three minutes to play at Loftus they trailed by a single score and were pushing for more when Jesse Kriel combined with Handre Pollard to slam the door shut.
It was a valiant effort, but this team are now demanding more than that.
Nations Championship summary
Scotland emerged from the Six Nations “gutted”, to quote Sione Tuipulotu. They believed they could end a run of 11 losses to Ireland and win a first Triple Crown since 1999. They shipped 43 points.
That was the backdrop to this campaign, yet motivation for their opening game in Argentina came from a second source, too. Last autumn they led the Pumas 21-0 at Murrayfield, conceded five tries in the final 23 minutes and lost 33-24.
Fired by the duel fuel of disappointment and humiliation, Tuipulotu’s men blew Argentina away, winning 47-38. Between minutes 17 and 55 the visitors scored five tries, silencing Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes in Cordoba.
“We know our attacking identity,” said Tuipulotu after Scott Cummings and Gregor Hiddleston marked their 50th and first caps respectively with tries. “We like to play with the ball.”
From there Scotland flew straight to South Africa to face the Springboks in Pretoria. “It’s a big challenge,” Townsend conceded. “We have to be better again.”
And they were. Despite conceding the first 14 points the tourists went into half-time level. The Boks responded with three tries in nine minutes and led by 21 with 12 to play. We thought that was that. We were wrong.
The Scots flicked a switch, Cummings broke to put Josh Bayliss over, then Ben White muscled his way across the whitewash. The margin was down to seven. The Boks, frankly, were clinging on.
Yet Scotland could not complete the job. Kyle Steyn knocked on a Russell cross-kick when it seemed he may score. Reprieved, Pollard threaded a grubber for Kriel to run onto, bounce off two defenders and deny their purple-clad opponents even a losing bonus.
“Scotland had us under the pump,” Pollard admitted after the whistle blew on a 42-28 result. Townsend told of his “frustration” and “disappointment”, which spoke volumes of the expectation Scotland now have of themselves.
And so to Murrayfield where a side showing 14 changes needed the cavalry to ride to the rescue after trailing by three tries to one to Fiji at half-time.
Pierre Schumann, Jamie Dobie and Cummings came off the bench to score four tries, win the second half 26-0 and bring an upbeat end to a productive, if exhausting, month.
Standout players
Gone are the days of Scotland relying on Finn Russell for a performance. The fly-half played only one of the three games due to a long-standing calf injury. He was masterful that day, mind, pulling the Springboks one way then the other to enable his team to score four tries in South Africa for the first time.
Sione Tuipulotu led by captain’s example. The British and Irish Lion scored the first try in Argentina and was electric against both the Pumas and Springboks, a class act in every respect.
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Rory Hutchinson enjoyed a terrific season with Northampton and was a major contributor to their Prem-winning campaign. In the absence of Huw Jones he transferred that performance level to Scotland. Outstanding both in Cordoba and Pretoria.
Likewise, Scott Cummings, who is now playing the best rugby of his career. He marked his 50th cap with a try against Argentina, was central to Scotland’s fourth quarter charge against the Boks, providing the assist for Bayliss’ score, and came off the bench to claim the decisive try against Fiji.
Glasgow fans have long known how good Gregor Hiddleston is, given his contribution to Warriors’ topping the URC and rampaging unbeaten through the Champions Cup pool stages.
Awarded his debut off the bench against Argentina the young hooker showcased his talents to a wider audience, marking the occasion with a try. A week later he tore into the Boks as Scotland’s bench eclipsed South Africa’s famed Bomb Squad. His full debut followed against Fiji.
Stat leaders
The tournament statistics do scant justice to Scotland’s contribution. 16 tries were shared across the squad with only Jamie Dobie, Kyle Rowe and Pierre Schoeman bagging more than one.
Rowe racked up 208 metres against Argentina and South Africa, placing him sixth in a category led by Matthieu Jalibert (268). Tuipulotu’s 36 carries put him fourth on the Northern Hemisphere list. No Scot contributed more try assists.
Success story
When he had got over the initial disappointment at coming up just short in Pretoria, Townsend spoke of his pride, adding: “We have come a long way this season and this was another step up.”
For while avenging their Murrayfield capitulation against Argentina was important, and impressive in its execution, the enduring memory of this campaign among players and supporters alike will be the way Scotland took it to South Africa.
Their fearlessness on both sides of the ball, their power in the collisions, their daring with ball in hand. The clever kicks, carries, pop-ups and offloads. They looked at home in their surroundings, a team inspired. And not only by White, Russell and Tuipulotu. This was a collective effort.
Scotland have evolved into the team they wanted to become. At least that is how Sione sees it.
Main regret
Given the choice to watch any Home Nations team as a source of entertainment you would not look too much further than Scotland. It has been that way for a while now.
Ireland would contest that. They can be scintillating, their performance at Twickenham in the last Six Nations a case in point. Moreover they have a steel Scotland are still developing.
Not in World Cups, we know that. But in Six Nations and on tours of the Southern Hemisphere they win not only matches but series and trophies. This is what is missing for Scotland. And it is not a secret.
With a year to the World Cup, the challenge for Team Townsend is to add Irish steel to tartan flair. When your biggest regret is not quite getting past the world champions in their own backyard, life ain’t too bad.
But in the games of greatest consequence the difference between ‘not quite’ and actually getting the job done is everything.
Results
Argentina v Scotland (Scotland won 38-47)
South Africa v Scotland (South Africa won 42-28)
Fiji v Scotland (Scotland won 33-17)
