- Fly-half admits Gregor Townsend’s side start matches well before ‘switching off’ and wants to see a more ruthless streak
- After going into a 35-7 lead on 48 minutes, Scotland failed to score again whilst Wales closed the gap to 35-29
- Scotland travel to France next weekend knowing their hosts will be looking to secure the Championship
Finn Russell admits Scotland can’t afford another mid-game collapse against a rampant France side or risk paying the heaviest price.
Gregor Townsend’s side were relentless for the first 50 minutes against Wales as they motored into a 35-8 lead after running in five converted tries.
Wales, though, came back into it in the closing quarter, scoring a further three tries as Scotland wilted and failed to put another point on the board.
Townsend takes his side to Paris next weekend to take on France who moved into pole position to win the Six Nations with a comprehensive demolition job on Ireland.
And co-captain Russell knows Scotland will likely be heavily punished if they have another slump in the Stade de France.
He said: ‘It’s great for us to have that quick start in the game and then to finish up with the bonus point win. For us, that’s really pleasing.
Russell was successful with all five of his conversion attempts against Wales
Though they were made to work for it, the Scots retained the Doddie Weir Cup
“But I think after 50 to 55 minutes, we probably switched off a little bit. So, learning as a team, we need to stamp that out and make sure we have ruthless 80-minute performances.
‘I think it’s probably the mental side of things. We need to find that ruthless edge of just putting teams away. We scored four tries to one in the first half and then we only scored one try in the second half.
‘I’m not too sure what it is. We’ve got a great mental skills coach here (Jess Thom) so I think as a collective we’ll maybe have a chat with her – or as leaders we’ll have a chat with her – and see what we can do differently, what we can do better and how we can try and fix that up.
‘It’s something that was similar to the England game as well. We’ve had a brilliant first half and maybe weren’t as good in the second half. I think we’ve definitely got it in us. But to go and win in France we need an 80-minute performance.
‘Next weekend is massive for us in terms of the tournament but also as a squad in terms of where we are. It’s one of the hardest challenges going over to Paris and trying to beat France who have just come off the back of a massive win.’
Townsend also conceded that it had been a mixed bag, with Scotland unable to keep up their first-half intensity.
Darcy Graham leaps to get on the scoresheet with a try for Scotland, his 30th for his country
The head coach said: ‘It was a very good first half and not so good last quarter. Sometimes that happens when you’ve got a big lead. We don’t like it because we didn’t play at the level – a really good level – of the first half all the way through. Sometimes credit goes to the opposition. They had more possession in that second half. It was a disappointing way to end by conceding a try.’
Russell was back to his best against Wales before going off with cramp, making all five of his conversion kicks after missing all three against England last time out.
He smiled: ‘I think I have my boots on the right feet today! No, it was good. I think I did quite a bit of work this week and just got myself in the groove, which was nice actually.
‘As a kicker, it can be quite tough when you’re not kicking well and then you’re trying to solve problems with every kick rather than just being in that groove and just trusting it. But it’s tough to have kicked well today after not kicking well in the England game, which could have changed it.’
