Gregor Townsend lamented a woeful first-half performance after Scotland were blown away by Ireland in their Six Nations clash at Murrayfield.
The Irish led 17-0 after half an hour following a dismal opening period which saw Scotland lose Finn Russell and Darcy Graham to injury, as well as having Duhan van der Merwe sent to the sin bin.
Scotland have now lost 11 straight games against Ireland, with the first-half horror show setting the tone for another painful afternoon.
Townsend’s men briefly threatened to get back into the game after half-time when they got to within six points at 17-11, but the visitors’ dominance saw them pull clear in the end.
‘We didn’t play well enough today,’ admitted Townsend, who has failed to beat Ireland throughout his tenure as Scotland head coach.
‘We made a few errors in that first 20 minutes. A couple of handling errors, obviously, and the penalty that led to a yellow card.
James Lowe celebrates scoring Ireland’s third try as they put Scots to the sword
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend admitted that a horror first-half cost his team
It’s celebration time for the Irish as Jack Conan scores another try for the visitors
‘It put us under unnecessary pressure. But the middle period was where we’d got back into the game. We just didn’t do enough to get ahead on the scoreboard.
‘When you’re 17-0 down, when things haven’t gone well for you and you’ve had to make changes, you do fear that the opposition could build on that.
‘I was really proud of the way we came back at the end of the first half and then how we got line-breaks and got in behind, forced penalties.
‘Ireland are going for something unprecedented this year, which is a third Six Nations title in a row. No team’s done that. What they’re doing is producing results and quality performances.
‘Today was probably our most disappointing performance and defeat since losing to Ireland in the [2023] World Cup. It happens every now and again.
‘We’ve lost to the No 2 team in the world who are going for the third title. We believed we could win and we worked hard towards a win. But, unfortunately, we made too many mistakes in the first half.’
Russell and Graham collided with each other in a horrible clash of heads which forced the game into a lengthy stoppage.
Russell initially passed a head injury assessment (HIA), only to then be permanently replaced on the advice of Scotland coaching staff, while Graham left the field in a neck brace and went straight to hospital.
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Sir Chris Hoy is given a rousing reception but even he couldn’t inspire a Scotland victory
Townsend and his players now head to Twickenham in a fortnight in round three, with the availability of Russell and Graham unknown.
Graham was released from hospital last night after suffering a concussion, while Russell was ultimately treated as a failed HIA despite passing the initial tests.
‘Finn passed his HIA,’ said Townsend. ‘It was more communication that Pete Horne [assistant coach] and a couple of other guys on the sideline were having with him.
‘We decided it wasn’t right. He had passed his HIA, but there were a couple of things he wasn’t remembering about plays. So we made the call not to put him back on.
‘I don’t know the protocols of passing HIA and then being pulled out. He will now be classed as a failure, delayed symptoms.
‘I don’t know whether that will be just seven days. It’s based on his record and passing HIA, too. There’s no game for Finn next week anyway. We’re hoping he’ll make a full recovery in time for it [the England game].
‘I don’t know how Darcy will be. Let’s hope he gets the all clear and it’s a 12-day standdown and no more.’
James Lowe couldn’t hide the smile on his face after touching down against the Scots
Andrew Porter roars in delight after Caelan Doris scored the second Irish try of the match
Rory Sutherland gets to grips with Ireland’s Tadhg Beirne and Peter O’Mahony at Murrayfield
Scotland co-captain Rory Darge clamed the defeat wasn’t due to a lack of physicality or being bossed up front by the Irish.
‘That’s Ireland’s game, isn’t it?’ he said. ‘They like to run those really tight shapes and make it difficult to defend and then blast you at the right time, but I don’t think we felt physically dominated.
‘It’s a tough scoreline to take. Probably the most obvious difference is just how clinical Ireland were – and we weren’t clinical enough.
‘Ireland are ruthless, and they make you feel like you’re under a massive amount of pressure. I thought we actually dealt with that yellow-card period pretty well. But it’s a sore one for us in the end.’
