Graham Bean and Mark Atkinson discuss Scotland latest defeat by Ireland.
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00:00Good evening from Monifield Stadium. Mark Atkinson, Scotsman Sports, joined by our Chief
00:06Rugby Writer, Graham Bean, who just watched Scotland lose 32-18 to Ireland in the second
00:13round of the Six Nations. Graham, pretty underwhelming at the end of the day for Scotland.
00:17Yeah, it was very disappointing. I don't think we came in with too high expectations, but
00:24I think Scotland really struggled to get into this game today. Ireland were just far
00:29too good. They started off really well, Ireland just kept it going. It was a brief period,
00:34end of the first half, start of the second. Scotland did well, got back into it, reduced
00:39the lead to six points. It was 17-11, but after that Ireland just pulled away again
00:45and were far too strong.
00:46It's a familiar tale for Cricketers and the Scotland head coach when he comes up against
00:50Ireland. That's now 11 matches that the Scots are winless under his watch. It's fair to
00:57say that, and I think you made this point in your match piece, that the gap between
01:00Scotland and Ireland is not getting smaller, it's getting bigger.
01:04I think there were signs of progress last season in Dublin. Scotland competed really
01:08well in that game and I think the final margin was at four or five points, but today it did
01:15feel a little bit like back to square one, didn't it? Ireland were just far too strong.
01:22Verityngton disagreed with that, actually, after the game.
01:24Yeah, it was an interesting press conference that, where he didn't appear to concur that
01:31there wasn't progress being made. It feels like it flies in the face of what most people
01:36are thinking.
01:37Yeah, I think Ireland just looked far better than any team in the Six Nations on the evidence
01:41of the first two rounds of fixtures. Certainly, for a head of Scotland, as you say, 11 matches
01:49in a row, I'm not sure what Scotland can do to get the better of Ireland at the moment.
01:54There's a change of coach there, Simon Easterby, and for Andy Farrow, it made no difference.
02:01These players know how to win a game, don't they? And they're going for a third title
02:06in a row.
02:07That's the thing, they're winners, aren't they, Ireland? They know how to get the job
02:09done, they've got so many talents and dangers throughout the pitch. It didn't help, it must
02:14be said, a horrible incident that happened in the 21st minute when Darcey Graham and
02:18Finn Russell collided heads. A complete freak incident. But, of course, with the two players
02:25that you wouldn't want to lose when you're chasing a game. It really took a bit of stinging
02:28out of Scotland to tackle, didn't it?
02:29Yeah, it did. I mean, it was about a 10 minute delay while Darcey Graham was treated on the
02:36pitch. It was always a worrying time. Yeah, it took all the momentum out of the game for
02:44a bit. Scotland actually recovered well, given the changes they had to make. Tom Jordan moved
02:49to stand off and Jamie Dobie came on, played on the wing, did well, and Stafford MacDowall
02:54moved on to the centre. But, you know, Scotland did come back well, as I say, towards the
02:59end of the first half, the start of the second. But, yeah, I mean, Ireland just pulled away
03:04again. And we should say that Darcey Graham was taken to hospital. Gregor Tyson doesn't
03:12think it's anything to do with his neck, but he was suffering from a concussion. So, you
03:17know, fingers crossed for him. Hopefully we'll see him back for two months.
03:22He's got to be a major doubt for the game that Scotland have next. It doesn't get that
03:27much easier when you're playing an England team that's wicking them in the Calcutta Cup,
03:30who had a fantastic win themselves against France in London 24 hours ago. And they'll
03:38be smarting, won't they? Because Scotland have had the better of England in recent matches.
03:42And they'll want to redress that. And it's going to be a really, really difficult game
03:46for Scotland, not least if Darcey Graham, and indeed Finn Russell, don't make it.
03:50I mean, it's incredible to think Scotland have got out of Twickenham looking for their
03:53fifth win in a row in the Calcutta Cup, which is incredible. It's a real testament to what
03:58Townsend has done, you know, for all these. And I've got a bad record against Ireland,
04:01this record against England is absolutely superb. But yeah, I would very much doubt
04:07we'll see Darcey Graham at Twickenham, which is a real shame given the injuries he's had.
04:10He's missed the last two Six Nations Championships in their entirety. Finn Russell, interestingly,
04:19I agree with what Townsend said, Russell actually passed his HIA, but they decided not to bring
04:23him back on because he seemed a bit unsure about some of the plays and maybe a slight
04:27delayed reaction. So we'll have to see how he progresses over the next few days.
04:31But Scotland will obviously want him fit and firing at Twickenham.
04:36And of course, Townsend also said that Kyle Stane probably won't be fit for that game either.
04:41So you'd have a little bit of an issue on the ring, wouldn't you?
04:44Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah, that is a concern. Yeah, I'll be interested to see what he does
04:50there because, yeah, I think Kyle Stane initially hoped he would be back, but he's maybe not
04:55making the progress that we'd have hoped. So, yeah, we've got a weekend off next week
05:01and then Scotland are going to Spain for a training camp the week after that and then
05:07flying straight to London for the England game.
05:10Yeah. Before we sign off, Graham, we're a bit disheartened, obviously, having watched
05:15Scotland lose yet again to Ireland. What do we expect for the rest of this tournament?
05:19It can still be a successful tournament, can't it?
05:21Yeah, definitely. I think it's pretty open because apart from Ireland, everybody's lost
05:25at least one match. So, you know, nobody's, apart from Ireland, pulling away.
05:30But the next game feels like a really important one for Scotland.
05:36I mean, the Cup Cup Cup is obviously always very important.
05:39But with England having beaten France yesterday, this really does kind of assume huge proportions.
05:46I mean, England look like they're coming on above a game.
05:49They do.
05:50Very impressive.
05:51They're improving.
05:52The times yesterday. So, yeah, we'll see.
05:56England, then Wales back here and then France. Two wins out of three.
06:01That's what you're looking for?
06:03Yeah, I think that would be a decent return, definitely.
06:07We'll see what happens. It takes a break for a couple of weeks, the Six Nations, but we'll
06:10still have plenty of content on scotland.com and in the newspaper.
06:14But from Graham and I here at Murrayfield tonight, it's goodbye for now.