“If we’d lost, it would have been a big blow. There’s no denying that.” Gregor Townsend is not one for extravagant displays of emotion, but the Scotland head coach spoke with a level-eyed intensity that made clear he had rarely spoken truer words.
The story of Scotland and rugby is a rollercoaster of highs and lows at the best of times, but for Townsend’s charges to fail to overturn 22 years of hurt in Cardiff with this one-point win after establishing a 27-0 lead a couple of minutes into the second half would have meant outlandish pain even by their standards.
All the more so given such an outcome, however extreme, would somehow have seemed in keeping with that tortured history. Indeed in 2010, in the same city, Scotland contrived to lead 24-14 with less than five minutes remaining and end up losing 31-24. This time a 27-0 lead – courtesy of tries from Pierre Schoeman and Duhan van der Merwe, twice – was less whittled down, more blasted apart, by a young Wales side to 27-26 – and there was a full 10 minutes still to play.
“We’ve worked a lot on responding to negative moments in games and staying together,” Townsend said. “It wasn’t that we were containing Wales at the end. We went out there, called the play, executed it and got within a yard of the line. Duhan reckons he did score it.”
Van der Merwe finished the match claiming what would have been his hat-trick score, but the television match official decided he had placed the ball on an opponent’s leg. So Scotland finished strongly, but what an indignity it would have been to have ceded such a lead to so young a Wales team. The dynamic will be very different in Edinburgh on Saturday, when a wounded France come calling. Scotland will be without Richie Gray but are poised to welcome back Grant Gilchrist and the co‑captain, Rory Darge. Darcy Graham is probably another round away from returning.
For Wales, the experience was bittersweet. That recovery, with tries from James Botham, Rio Dyer, Aaron Wainwright and the debutant Alex Mann, must inspire so young a team, but they looked lost in the first half.
“Another five minutes and we probably would have got the win,” said Wainwright, a point of reference at No 8.
“A game of two halves sums it up perfectly. We showed what we can do when we start putting some stuff together. That’s going to give us some momentum for next week.”
That next assignment? None other than England at Twickenham, where Welsh boys go to become men.
