It has taken almost 30 years of professional rugby for Scotland to assemble a squad who have the ability to compete at the top end of the Six Nations. It has taken this long because of crucial decisions made at the beginning of professionalism.
At that time Scottish rugby had four provincial teams. Running along the traditional lines forged over a century of rugby, there was the West of Scotland, based around Glasgow, the Caledonian Reds in the north, Edinburgh in the east, and the traditional heartland of Scottish rugby in the southern Borders region.
Fuelled by an almost pathological hatred of rugby’s move into professionalism, Scottish rugby inflicted unimaginable self-harm on their game. Firstly they disbanded the Caledonian team in the north, effectively condemning two thirds of the country to have no representative senior team.
It was bewildering to watch the very people charged with the stewardship of the game abandoning some of Scotland’s greatest rugby communities
This was followed by disbanding the Borders team. The Irish equivalent would be to scrap Munster. These were devastating cuts to the Scottish team because they effectively halved the professional player pool.
These decisions were reactions to financial pressure and did not follow any well considered strategic long-term plan. How the wonderful traditions of legendary clubs like Kelso, Jed-Forest and Melrose, which had supplied generations of high-quality players to the Scottish national team, were simply abandoned with no meaningful player pathway remains a monumental, if not catastrophic error.
The wise locals with stout rugby hearts, who had lived a lifetime within the game, people who came from the soil of these heartlands, could see the ramifications of such actions. Their words of protest against the cuts fell on deaf ears.
The reasoning from those making the decisions was the crazy belief that high-performance rugby would continue to flourish in the Borders and the north by sending Scotland’s best and brightest to play their club rugby in the English Premiership. Scotland could simply bring their players back for international duty, with the English clubs funding the majority of Scottish players involved in professional rugby.
At the time it was a strategy that many within Scottish rugby believed was going to fail. Within months it was obvious they were correct.
It was bewildering to watch the very people charged with the stewardship of the game abandoning some of Scotland’s greatest rugby communities.
With so many player pathways emasculated, Gregor Townsend has been forced to qualify a significant amount of talent from South Africa, Australia and the wider Scottish diaspora. Even using the loophole to look at Ireland for qualified players.
That is good coaching. Townsend and his staff deserve great credit for the creation of this team’s depth and for the prescient decision to appoint Jamie Ritchie as captain. His leadership appears to have been the key to opening this team’s potential.
Across Townsend’s time as coach, Scotland’s ability has been obvious. However, international rugby is an examination of not only every individual’s skills but also their mental strength and character. Teams with physical strengths and mental weaknesses are inconsistent. Until this campaign that summed up Scotland. They have the physicality to win one week but the mental weakness to lose the next.
Then there is the question of character. As the cliche goes, rugby does not create a team’s character, it reveals it. Ritchie’s captaincy has empowered his team’s collective character to come to the fore. Their reaction in Paris, after having a player sent off and conceding a series of quick tries, was enthralling. It was full of character, mental strength and skill.
Finn Russell personifies this revelation of character. Russell’s gifts have never been in question. He is, without doubt, one of his generation’s most skilful outhalves.
However, in the past, he has been guilty of forcing his X factor. Which is a nice way of saying that, at times, he has not put the greater good of the team above his own desires. Pints included.
Great outhalves learn how to underplay their hand and bring other players into the game. In this Six Nations, Russell has done exactly that. The control of his triple threat – the decision when to pass, kick or run – has been spectacular.
The combination of Townsend’s selections, Ritchie’s captaincy and Russell’s newfound maturity mean that Scotland are a real Triple Crown contender. To win it they will have to produce their best performance of the professional era because this Irish team has earned the right to be ranked number one on the planet.
Having won a series in New Zealand, Ireland will walk on to Murrayfield full of respect for its traditions but also full of confidence from their recent performances. Andy Farrell’s side already have three bonus-point wins under their belt and if they succeed in Edinburgh, the possibility of a first ever Grand Slam won in Dublin is a highly motivating reward.
Added to Scotland’s monumental task is the return of an avalanche of world-class Irish talent. The selection of Tadhg Furlong, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, Jamison Gibson-Park plus the one and only Johnny Sexton would place doubt into the hearts of any opponent in the world.
All of these factors may make defeating Ireland a step beyond this vastly improved Scottish team.
An electrified Murrayfield atmosphere will lift Scotland to play the type of rugby that could force a breakthrough Triple Crown victory. Yet the evidence suggests that this excellent Irish team should add them to a long list of teams who have fallen to their high tempo, accurate and physical game plan.
Either way, a belter of a game awaits.
