FOR someone with only four caps to his name - someone, moreover, who is still not seen as a first choice at club level - Hamish Watson had adapted remarkably quickly to the demands of Test rugby. By his own admission, he made mistakes against Argentina, but he responded to them with impressive maturity to play his part in a hard-fought victory.
In that sense, the Edinburgh openside flanker is typical of this Scotland squad and the approach they are now taking in the final season of Vern Cotter’s reign as head coach. For all that there are a few veterans in their ranks, they are still in the early stages of their development, and still feeling their way into the new, more adventurous style that Cotter and attack coach Jason O’Halloran have adopted.
But Saturday’s 19-16 win over the Pumas was proof that they are developing quickly, above all by learning how to overcome their own errors. A week earlier against Australia they had a chance to claim victory in the final play, but failed to score so lost 23-22. This time round, chasing a three-point deficit as the clock went past the 80-minute mark, they held their nerve and were rewarded with the winning penalty.
“It was a very long 80 minutes,” Watson said afterwards. “I thought we stuck in there and showed a lot of character towards the end of the game. Last week was really disappointing when we couldn’t close out a very tight game, and this week we managed to grind it out.
“The boys all stuck together. We had a few opportunities before we finally won it, but it showed our character to keep pulling through, keep believing in ourselves, and we got the win in the end, which is great.
“It was really gutting to lose the way we did last week," the 25-year-old continued. "Vern talked during the week about closing games out and being in control, and I think even though we missed a few opportunities to win the game a bit earlier, we knew what we were doing. We had a game plan about pick and goes, and keeping the structure towards the end, and it showed - we won a tight game against a very good team.”
Whether the winning score comes from a penalty, a try or a drop goal, the ability to conjure it up with the last play of the game is invariably the mark of a team with real collective composure. Think of the All Blacks’ classic comeback at the end of their match against Ireland three years ago, when they maintained their 100 per cent record for 2013 with the winning score two minutes into stoppage time at the end of a long, sustained drive in which one minor slip would have killed the whole thing.
Greig Laidlaw’s 83rd-minute penalty against Argentina might not have compared to that game for sheer drama, but the crucial thing was that Scotland kept the ball alive at a time when one knock-on would have meant the end of the match. And they retained that composure, too, despite the setback of twice seeing Finn Russell fail to land a drop goal.
“It’s a very tough job to go for that drop goal,” Watson continued. “But we talked about it during the week, if we’re in that sort of position, work your way towards the posts and get in position. I thought we did that quite well. We missed the drop goal, but stuck in and got that kick towards the end.
“It’s pretty tense in those closing minutes, but we’re all pro players, international players, and we’ve got to be able to deal with that. Towards the end we did miss a few opportunities to close the game out, but then we stuck in. We showed a lot of character to get through and win that game. It is pretty tense, but the boys all stuck in - we knew we could do it.”
After being chosen ahead of Edinburgh team-mate John Hardie for the Wallabies game, Watson was all but guaranteed another start on Saturday - not only because Hardie is now out injured, but because he played so well against top-class opposition that it would have been foolish to drop him. He insisted that there was a lot wrong with his performance against Argentina, but accepted when pressed that he had responded well to those errors.
“I thought I did all right, but I’m nowhere near an experienced Test player. I’m still pretty nervous before the games, and my performance wasn’t anywhere near perfect today - I made a few errors.
“I tried to make up for them. As any pro rugby player will say, it’s about trying to flush those mistakes out. You make a mistake in the first 10 minutes, you can’t let that be on your mind the rest of the game. You’ve got to try and flush it, then think about that in the analysis room come Monday morning. You need to get over it pretty quick.”
While the team as a whole remained calm enough to get the win, Watson insisted that Laidlaw, as the captain and the coolest head on the pitch, had had the most important role to play. “That’s why he gets all these clubs after him, because he is one of the best at game management, organising the forwards, and experience-wise now internationally and at club level. He’s up there with the top guys.
“It’s amazing. Greeg’s obviously one of the best 9s in the world.. He’s very calm and you saw that towards the end with that last kick. Great to hold his nerve there.”
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