Scotland fall short but give grounds for cautious optimism

SCOTLAND 22

Tries: Cowan, Pyrgos, Horne. Cons: Horne, Jackson. Pen: Horne.

WORLD-CLASS teams do not distinguish between degrees of defeat. A loss of any manner is unacceptable and they tend to leave it at that.

But Scotland, as we need no reminding, are not world-class. And, having now lost all six of the matches they have played so far in 2015, they are obliged to differentiate one reverse from another, if only to glean a few glimmers of hope from the general gloom.

In that context, there was much to be cautiously encouraged by in Saturday’s six-point loss to Ireland. For a start, there was that narrow margin - smaller by far than had been widely feared before the game, and than seemed probable when Ireland took an early stranglehold on proceedings.

Then there was the fact that the line-up chosen by Vern Cotter for this first of four Rugby World Cup warm-up games played with considerable structure and solidity. Given it was pretty much a second-string selection, this at least hinted that the squad as a whole have made progress during their summer training camp, and that the depth of the pool available to the head coach may not be quite so shallow as has been suspected.

Besides that overall team performance, some individual showings were also encouraging, even if we must await the next two games against Italy before being sure what bearing they will have on Cotter’s final selection of 31 for the tournament. Hugh Blake, for instance, had a commendably active debut, lasting the pace well on his first international - but he may need to do a lot more in a future outing to force his way past other openside flankers to claim a place in the squad. Or, given there are others ahead of him in the pecking order, he may have to rely on them to have an off-day first.

Blake was the only starting debutant, while Mike Cusack, the Glasgow prop, came off the bench in the second half to claim his first cap. Cusack came on at tighthead for Jon Welsh, who was not allowed back after taking a head knock but should be fit to resume training this week. Ryan Grant, stretchered off earlier, is a far bigger worry, but you suspect it will take injury to more than one front-row man for Cusack to become one of the 31.

Ruaridh Jackson and Grant Gilchrist, both making their comebacks from long-term injury, also had encouraging afternoons. Gilchrist took over as captain after Henry Pyrgos was substituted late in the game, and did enough to suggest he will make the cut.

On the debit side, there were some moments when the defence, even allowing for Ireland’s skill and speed, looked none too clever. And, while conceding four tries was bad enough, it could have been a lot worse had Ireland maintained the punitive approach with which they began the match.

As it was, they emerged from a one-sided opening quarter just seven points to the good, when Chris Henry crashed over at the end of an eight- or nine-phase move from a lineout. They spurned the chance to go for goal with several kickable penalties, and that allowed Scotland to get back on terms after half an hour.

David Denton did the initial damage with a barge through the middle, then swift recycling by Peter Horne, Jackson and Richie Vernon ended with Blair Cowan touching down on the right. Horne added the extra points, but was then wide with a long-range penalty attempt five minutes later. The teams went in level at half-time, which on the balance of play had to be regarded as a decent outcome for the visitors.

After Pyrgos scored the first try of the second half to put Scotland in front for the first time, Ireland were at last stung into action, and when a penalty to touch deep in the Scotland 22 set up a promising platform, Sean Cronin forced his way over from the lineout.

The apparent momentum shift was soon disrupted, however, as a Horne penalty nosed Scotland back in front as the game entered the last quarter. It was more active than the hour that had preceded it, with the lead changing hands three times more: a Simon Zebo try put the home team ahead, then Horne’s converted try changed things again, and finally Luke Fitzgerald gather a superb cross-field punt from Madigan to get the final try of the day.

A home win was a fair result given Ireland’s slight superiority in most departments of the game, but Scotland at least emerged from it with their self-respect not only intact but in fact enhanced. There is little doubt that they are improving, even if it is from a very modest starting point. If they carry on that improvement against Italy in Turin on Saturday, they will have a decent chance of winning.