With 67 minutes on the clock and Scotland cruising, it was easy to let the mind wander to what might have been in a parallel universe.
Another bonus-point victory over Wales seemingly secured with little difficulty, thoughts drifted back to Twickenham a fortnight earlier and the late miss off the tee from Finn Russell that sent his team sliding to an agonising defeat.
Had that conversion sailed between the posts — or either of his two earlier efforts — then Scotland would now be heading to Paris next weekend for a winner-takes-all Six Nations shoot-out against France. The irony that Russell made all five kicks here at Murrayfield was not lost on many either. On such slender margins can championships be won or lost.
All thoughts of Scotland’s possible sliding-doors moment, however, were quickly parked during a frenetic final quarter here as Wales threatened to pull off a stunning comeback.
Instead of Twickenham two weeks ago it was Cardiff last year that then came to mind, a match in which Scotland had thoroughly dominated in the first half only to collapse spectacularly after the turnaround.
They came close to losing that one and, when Taulupe Faletau appeared to have run in Wales’s fourth try here to reduce the deficit to seven points with four minutes left to play, it looked like Scotland were in real danger of throwing this one away.
Kinghorn celebrates after scoring his second try, putting Scotland into a commanding lead
Tom Jordan breaks away to secure the bonus point for Scotland in the second half
There was a genuine exhalation of relief around Murrayfield when that try was chalked off by the TMO for Blair Murray jumping a tackle earlier in the move, handing Scotland a reprieve. And when Jarrod Evans converted Max Llewellyn’s late try to secure two bonus points for Wales, it was the final act of a topsy-turvy contest. Scotland had done enough to win but it felt flat.
It was not a new phenomenon either. This is a team that has formed an unfortunate habit of switching off midway through matches, often to their detriment. They did the same against Italy in their opening match of this year’s championship and again in that narrow — and now costly — loss to England.
It is infuriating and baffling in equal measure. They were streets ahead in the first half here, running in four tries to Wales’s solitary effort. The backs looked like they could cut through the Welsh defence with every attack, with Russell, Darcy Graham, Tom Jordan and Blair Kinghorn, in particular, all looking dangerous.
When Kinghorn scored his second try after 48 minutes, Scotland led 35-8. It was all there for them to go on and win by a record margin. One of Kinghorn or Jordan looked a certainty to go on and claim a hat-trick.
Instead, Scotland failed to add a single point to their tally in the 32 minutes that remained. Not one. It was Wales who finished the stronger, their confidence growing as they sensed a chance to end a 15-game losing streak in spectacular fashion.
Over when Ben Thomas, barely troubled as he bustled his way to the line, and then just seven minutes later Teddy Williams scored, too. Scotland were wobbling, their first-half dynamism now a fading memory. Faletau’s disallowed score was another warning that wasn’t heeded and Wales kept pushing with the clock in the red to score again through Llewellyn. Two losing bonus points was a well-deserved reward for their perseverance.
It could have been so different, had Faletau not been left dejected after seeing his try ruled out
From Scotland’s perspective, this was one way to turn a party atmosphere into a wake, the crowd trooping out as if they had witnessed a defeat rather than a five-try bonus-point win.
Why it happened — and continues to happen — is a tough one to figure out. Perhaps complacency creeps in when they motor into such a commanding lead, unable or unwilling to sustain that intensity. Maybe the vast number of replacements that appear off the bench these days can kill a team’s momentum. Or perhaps with this Scotland side there is something missing in their mental make-up, an inability to be relentless and keep their boot on the opposition’s throat when they are at their mercy.
‘This year we’ve been good at the start of games then switched off,’ admitted Russell afterwards. ‘The message we had pre-match was to try and have an 80-minute performance.
‘I think it’s probably the mental side. We need to find that ruthless edge of just putting teams away. 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. It’s something that’s similar to the England game as well. We’ve had a brilliant first half and maybe we weren’t as good in the second half.’
Co-captain Russell admits that Scotland need to find a more ‘ruthless’ side in matches
Scotland got away with that second-half slackness against Italy and again here but the margin for error will be much smaller next weekend in the Stade de France against a home side who will look to exploit every weakness and punish them to the maximum.
Townsend’s side probably won’t have the luxury of a sizeable lead to defend in that one but, should they get their noses in front, another mid-game switch-off will likely be fatal to their prospects.
