If talk in Edinburgh’s overflowing bars on Saturday evening was turning to thoughts of a long-overdue Six Nations title tilt, those tasked with guiding the next stage of Scotland’s journey were understandably keen to sound a note of caution.
It is only 12 months since the Scots enjoyed a similarly giddy opening-day triumph against England at Twickenham – a far more comprehensive win than the 11-6 scoreline suggested.
A week later Gregor Townsend’s charges led Wales 17-3 at Murrayfield before a combination of a disallowed try, a red card for Zander Fagerson and Louis Rees-Zammitt’s sensational finishing punctured all that early optimism in an agonising one-point defeat.
After the helter-skelter Calcutta Cup victory on Saturday a wounded Wales, thoroughly outclassed by a dominant Ireland in Dublin, again provide the next hurdle to those ambitions of a credible challenge.
Scotland may have won at an empty Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli during the Covid-delayed conclusion to the 2020 championship to end an 18-year losing run in Wales, but they have not won on their past 10 visits to the Principality Stadium – including eight in the Six Nations.
“It’s one of the best places to play in the world and I hope there are some Scots booking trains and tickets because we could do with a few thousand supporters cheering us on,” said Townsend, who was part of the last Scotland side to win at the Cardiff citadel in 2002.
“We know the atmosphere will be immense for the Welsh team, and Ireland haven’t done us any favours by getting them fired up. Wales are a great Six Nations team, they will learn a lot from their first game and they will be up for it, like we will. We just have to deliver a better performance and we know we will need to next week.”
Townsend was in the highly unusual position of coming into this championship having all his frontline players available, in contrast to England and Wales, who will again be severely depleted.
That has changed in at least one regard with Jamie Ritchie, one of the side’s vice-captains and widely regarded as Stuart Hogg’s most likely long-term successor, expected to miss the trip to Cardiff and possibly further games as he awaits the diagnosis of an injury to his hamstring and groin area.
“When you’re on crutches and struggling to walk, it’s not looking great for Jamie just now; he’s in a lot of pain,” Townsend said of a player who has only missed one of Scotland’s 18 Tests since the 2019 World Cup – that home defeat by Wales last year.
His absence will be a significant blow, but Townsend does have alternatives, if not a like-for-like replacement. The in-form Magnus Bradbury, who replaced Ritchie for the final quarter on Saturday, would bring extra ball-carrying heft to the party, while Sam Skinner, who came on at lock, has started at blindside for Scotland in the past.
Given the loss of Ritchie’s breakdown expertise, though, this might be the time to bring the “exceptional” – Townsend’s description – Glasgow openside Rory Darge into the matchday 23.
Despite showing buckets of character and defensive resolve, allied to some clinical moments in attack, this was not one of Scotland’s finest performances, and yet it still proved good enough to beat an England side who enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and territory.
Townsend’s charges only really asserted themselves over a sustained period in the final quarter, aided by some forceful contributions from the bench and Finn Russell brilliantly dissecting the weak spots in England’s defence, which led to the momentum-turning penalty try conceded by Luke Cowan-Dickie.
“I thought Finn was outstanding,” said Townsend, who assumed the fly-half would be named player of the match, only for the award to go to the No 8 Matt Fagerson, who manned the barricades superbly with 16 tackles in a bruising close-quarters battle.
“Matt had a very good game, he was very strong in contact,” the head coach acknowledged. “But to play stand-off up in the heat of the defence, when England were coming up quickly and trying to put a lot of pressure on Finn, in those conditions I thought his decision-making was spot-on, and nailing his goal-kicks was crucial for us.”
There were other standout contributions: the wing Darcy Graham was a constant thorn in England’s side, while Hogg again played a reassuring and composed captain’s hand.
“If we are brutally honest, we didn’t show exactly what we are about, and I am quite excited about how far this group can go,” the full-back said.
“We’re not going to get carried away but it’s definitely an exciting time to be part of this team. When we watch this game back, we will see areas we can improve on, which excites me. Wales are one of the best sides in world rugby and especially at home, so it is going to be one hell of a challenge next week but one we are ready for.”
