'Scotland's wild ride from false dawns and fatalism to tilt at history'

Decades of frustration, false dawns and fatalism have given way to a long-awaited chance for Scotland as they approach a pivotal game in Dublin, with silverware in the shape of a Triple Crown and a possible championship at stake.

“- Published And so the chance has arrived at last, decades in the waiting, decades largely made up of frustration, false dawns and fatalism”

BBC

Isolated wins and the galling sight of Ireland and Wales celebrating past successes have compounded the pressure, and a string of coaches — Matt Williams, Andy Hadden, Andy Robinson, Scott Johnson and Vern Cotter — were counted in and counted out before Gregor Townsend, in his ninth Six Nations, led Scotland to their most significant championship game since the 1999 title.

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Saturday in Dublin offers an end to 11 defeats in a row against Ireland, a fourth win in the championship for the first time, a first second-place finish also for the first time, and a first Triple Crown since 1990 that would be only the third since 1938.

France remain the favourites to clinch the championship despite Scotland’s win over them last weekend.

Scotland’s campaign has been a wild ride from the misery in Rome to a run of emphatic performances: come Saturday it will be 35 days since Scotland found misery in the monsoon at the Olimpico, a match marked by a weak mentality, a dominated scrum, a broken lineout and an endgame of 29 forlorn phases.

The team then produced a bonus-point win over England after England led 17-0 after 14 minutes, with Finn Russell’s genius, Huw Jones’ opportunism, Matt Fagerson’s charge down and Kyle Steyn’s relentless class driving momentum.

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Scotland overcame a bigger test in Wales, coming back from 20-5 down in a high-intensity contest.

They then produced perhaps their most stunning performance in years by running France off the road, scoring forty unanswered points after France had led 14-7.

Scotland identify physicality as the deciding factor, a focus captured by captain Sione Tuipulotu: "I think that's the game, to be honest," he said of the need to win the physical confrontations, adding that "The breakdown is going to be a big part of it" and noting that "[Ireland] have picked some guys that are pretty notorious as breakdown pests."

“- Published And so the chance has arrived at last, decades in the waiting, decades largely made up of frustration, false dawns and fatalism”

BBC

Tuipulotu argued that in Test rugby the fundamentals matter — "you win the collisions, you win the game" — and that winning the breakdown, the target and the defence usually decides the result.

The squad have been reluctant to show emotion publicly this week, with Townsend particularly deadpan, and the article notes that keeping a lid on the moment is sensible rather than going overboard.

The contest carries personal weight for players such as Tuipulotu, whose father Fohe watched him captain Scotland for the first time at Murrayfield, and who reflected on a lifetime of chasing approval: "My dad doesn't speak much," he said, adding that Fohe has "probably a bit more to say if we lose or if I've played badly than if we win."

Tuipulotu described playing rugby as "chasing that approval from my dad."

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The piece ends by stressing that if Scotland can get everything right — especially on the physical front — history is at hand, though the toughest part of the challenge still remains.