Gregor Townsend wants perspective after Scotland’s Six Nations loss to Ireland Gregor Townsend called for a sense of perspective to be applied in the wake of Scotland’s chastening 32-18 defeat by Ireland as he pointed out that it would have been a “massive shock” if his side had turned over the defending Six Nations champions at Murrayfield on Sunday.
But Sunday’s demoralising defeat at the hands of an Irish side chasing a third consecutive title brought a familiar sense of deflation for Townsend and his players after they had spoken extensively in recent months about the progress they felt they had made since their 36-14 World Cup pool-stage defeat by the same opponents in Paris in October 2023.
Townsend admitted “it’s going to be difficult” for Scotland – who have trips to England and France either side of a home game against Wales – to get back into title contention after Sunday’s defeat.
“No, I don’t,” said the head coach when asked if he felt an 11th consecutive defeat by Ireland had left Scotland “back at square one” in their quest to become genuine title contenders.
But they deserved to win and we’ve got to make sure that this game, and all the last four or five that we’ve played, are part of who we are next time we play.”.
