For the first time since 1996 – before the country was even devolved – Scotland can go into the third round of the Championship with the grand slam a possibility.
And on the evidence of this second-half evisceration of Warren Gatland’s Wales – inspired by Finn Russell’s brilliance – their chances of a first clean sweep since 1990 are not only alive but kicking after their biggest ever victory over their fellow Celts.
Gregor Townsend’s men slayed so many demons in this five-try triumph that the Murrayfield pitch could barely accommodate the ghoulish entrails.
For starters, there was that frankly staggering fact that they had not won their opening two games in the Championship for 27 years.
And then there was the grip with which Gatland had strangled their throats, having never lost to them as Wales coach, a streak which they emphatically halted at 11 reversals.
Even in the Gatland three-year sabbatical, Scotland had suffered in the Dragonhood’s heat. In both 2021 and 2022 they beat England first up and then saw all that feelgood crushed in the very next game against Wales. “What is Scottish for momentum?” they asked.
But now they can put the Doddie Weir Cup, alongside the Calcutta Cup and nobody would be more thrilled than the dearly departed big man of the Borders.
It was not pretty, especially in a turgid first half. Yet just when the visitors were threatening to pray on the obvious Murrayfield nerves once more, so Scotland grabbed the game by the scruff – and Wales whilst they were at it – and showed their class that could trouble not only France in Paris in two weeks’ time but then Ireland and Italy at home to finish.
If any rugby-playing nation knows not to get ahead of themselves it is that clad in Tartan, but what a decisive finale that would offer.
Townsend will take plenty from this. It could be a significant milestone. In Russell they have a performer deserving of the biggest honours. A wonderful backhanded flip put in Kyle Steyn and when the centre collected the outside-half’s pinpoint crossfield kick it was all but over. Another piece of magic from the Russell boot, ultimately to set loose Blair Kinghorn, allowed Edinburgh to bask in the procession to a 100 per cent record.
“I was just doing my job and making other boys look good,” Russell said, after being named player-of-the match. “There’s continuity in the squad and we’re all on the same page. A good performance all round. It was a great game and result. We know we have struggled to back up wins in the past. The boys put in a great performance here.”
In the build-up, Dan Biggar, the opposing fly-half, questioned why Scotland have earned so many plaudits without backing it up. “Scotland played well last week against England but, look, according to you guys they are the best team around aren’t they?” Biggar said. “We’ll have to see how they go on Saturday, see if they can back it up. The pressure is all on them. They’re red-hot favourites, ‘best team in the tournament’, so we’ll see how they go.”
He also promised a reaction from Wales. “It is a really difficult ask, but I think this country and this group of boys tend to respond really well when our backs are against the wall and when we have to come out fighting,” Biggar said.
Hmmm. Biggar was nowhere near his best and did himself no favours when rollocking Rio Dyer early on for a wayward pass. That is not the way to instil confidence in a 21-year-old and on the stroke of half-time the wing could not grasp a pass that could have put Wales 14-13 ahead at the break.
Saying that, Biggar missed a penalty in front of the posts when his team were 6-0 down. In many ways, that summed up the shambles as their recent record moved to losing 11 out of their past 14 games and six out of the past seven.
Gatland must wonder what he has walked into on his return after agreeing to replace Wayne Pivac in December. After a similar shellacking to Ireland on the first weekend, he went to the next generation of players – dropping the likes of Alun Wyn Jones and Justin Tipuric, whilst putting Taulupe Faletau on the bench – and although Dafydd Jenkins, the young Exeter lock, and blindside Christ Tshiunza were promising and the back row as a whole competed, there is barely anything to spot but gloom with England making the trip to Cardiff in two weeks’ time.
This is the first time Wales have lost their first two opening Six Nations matches in 16 years. It has not even been close. Wales have conceded 69 points and scored 17, but in both encounters they had enough entreaties into the opposition’s 22 to make this deficit look faintly ridiculous. What are they doing to Gatland’s CV, never mind his legacy?
Ken Owens, the captain who scored the Welsh try, tried to spin the positives. “We had a really good first-half performance and were perhaps a bit unlucky not to go in slightly ahead at half-time. In the second half we put pressure on ourselves and they punished us,” he said
“When you are winning and you have got momentum, it is hard to lose, and there is a flip side to that. It is early days with a new coaching staff and some new players coming in. We need to work hard and we have got to find a win. We believe in what we are trying to achieve. There will be greandes coming our way before England come to our place in a two weeks’ time.”
The Scotland captain’s mood was, inevitably, in direct contrast. “It wasn’t perfect, but we did enough to get the job done,” James Ritchie said. “We have belief that if we play to our best, we can beat any team. As I said, it wasn’t perfect, we have got a lot more in us, and we will be looking to improve when we go to Paris.”
Ritchie also took time to hail Scotland legend Doddie Weir. The two sides were playing for the Doddie Weir Cup – this being the first time the national side had played at Murrayfield since the former Lions lock died last year. That was extra motivation for Scotland, with their captain saying: “This is the first game here without him. We miss him so much and I’m glad I’ve got my hands on this [the Doddie Weir Cup].
“I’m delighted, a bit emotional and I’m glad we did this for Kathy [Weir’s wife] and the boys.”
