Scotland defence

[whatisthejava]

So after the first two games I thought Scotland were concentrating on defence knowing their attack was ok but now I kinda think the Scottish attack has been gash since Townsend took over and Finn Russell was papering over the cracks.

Possibly a new defence coach has fixed it but Scotland don’t seem to have a joined up attack and defence. Can’t decide if the forwards are trying to limit the exposure of Hastings because at times yesterday we did first phase hit, generated decent quick ball on second ruck and then just hit up again, a lot of the times the back got it after 3-4 phases and Italy were ready or we had eaten up some of the space.

The worst part was watching Horne clearly obey the tactics of do nothing with it except slow it down.

I’m happy enough with the defense but it feels like it has been bought with time that should be dedicated to attack.

We are still 5th after 3 games but our defence seems to have a plan but I’m not sure that’s enough unless you can score against a tired France after 60 mins.

[Cameo]

When he first took over I thought there were clear patterns and, in a way, the "play really quick" was a plan in itself. There is less need for intricacy if you do it before the defence is set. I agree, we now seem to have lost any real attacking innovation and play off 9 the whole time.

Hopefully, this bye week can be used to work on the attack.

[Big D]

Tandy has apparently simplified the defence and it seems to be working. The big tests are still to come, there are now two dry weather games for opposition to scout our defence and see how to beat it.