State of the Nation: Scotland’s hopeless Six Nations raises concern for Rugby World Cup

Stan Wilson

Now that the 2022 Six Nations is wrapped up, we delve into the state of affairs in each of the competing nations. Next up, Scotland.

The recent tournament yielded an unfruitful Championship for Gregor Townsend‘s struggling side as they finished in a disappointing fourth position. After showing so much promise during last year’s tournament, Scotland crumbled this time around, offering little hope going forwards.

Despite fantastic displays from wing Darcy Graham and captain Stuart Hogg, the Scots left a lot to be desired elsewhere.

In attack, Scotland are still yet to find their identity; they need more structure and shape rather than just relying on individuality.

Power problems

Furthermore, they must find better ball carriers in the pack if they wish to succeed in the future. It’s imperative that they unearth players who can consistently break the gain line, bust tackles and create platform for the backs to work from.

Throughout the tournament Hamish Watson, Rory Darge and Grant Gilchrist were superb defensively in the pack, as was Chris Harris in the backs – defence is Scotland’s strongest area – but they have struggled to generate that forward momentum.

It had all started so well as they kicked off their Six Nations in front of a booming Murrayfield crowd and defeated England to retain the Calcutta Cup, but it would prove to be the highlight of their tournament.

It went downhill from there, starting with a trip to Cardiff. Hopes were high among both players and fans as they attempted to break their losing streak in the Welsh capital but their performance was abject in the 20-17 reversal.

Wales’ subsequent displays rather put that loss in perspective and, as a result, perhaps their heavy defeat to France in the following clash was not that surprising. A last gasp score from Duhan van der Merwe was not enough to hide what had been yet another poor effort from Townsend’s charges, who were outclassed by Les Bleus.

Even the game against Italy could not cure their ills. There were some good things, including the performance of Ali Price, while they had the game the won pretty early on, but it was still a pretty underwhelming display.

And then came that ill-fated night out in Edinburgh following their return from Rome, hinting at a rotten culture at the heart of Scottish rugby.

Although the players hid it well in their final clash against Ireland, battling throughout and at least causing the hosts a few problems in the first half, a 26-5 loss rather summed up their tournament.

There was a dearth of quality and, perhaps more surprisingly, a real lack of energy throughout the five matches. Considering the positivity that was emanating around the country prior to the Six Nations, this was a huge disappointment and made you question their credentials looking ahead to the World Cup.

On the playing front, they need to find more ball carriers, especially in the pack, but a solution at 12 also needs to be found. Finn Russell could benefit from having a Jonathan Danty or Manu Tuilagi-esque man outside him, but equally, having a ball player like Cam Redpath back fit and on form would be beneficial.

The pressure is on Townsend but he has been dealt a difficult hand when you look at their draw for the global tournament. With the presence of Ireland and reigning world champions South Africa, at this point it would almost take a miracle for them to qualify for the quarter-finals.

READ MORE: State of the Nation: Wobbly Wales need to find answers after poor Six Nations