Now we get into the meat of this thing – Scotland’s inability to contend in a Six Nations and the factors that hold them back. Everybody can see them. Every year they’re played out in an excruciating loop, be it spring or autumn or both.
In November, Scotland were poor enough to fall 17-0 behind against New Zealand and yet good enough to make it 17-17 thereafter, before falling away at the end.
A week later they were dominant in going 21-0 ahead against Argentina and then hapless in conceding 33 points in the second half and losing. They were booed that day at Murrayfield.
It’s a recurring theme. The quality of Scotland’s squad is undoubted but the frailties are impossible to miss.
In last season’s Six Nations they fell 17-0 behind against Ireland and couldn’t find a way back. In the loss to England they didn’t score for an hour.
Against Wales they had 35 points and victory in the bag after 49 minutes but shipped 21 unanswered points from there. They hung on to win, just about.
These moments torment Scotland.
There’s brilliance but there’s also painful weakness – soft beginnings to Tests, panic when well on top, overplaying, error counts, poor discipline adding pressure, players going off script, chances butchered, lack of mental resilience.
Schoeman doesn’t shy away from any of that. He says the anger of losing those games in the autumn “turns into fuel”.
For example?
“When the momentum shift goes away, limit those mistakes,” he says. “Our 22-metre conversion rate has to be better. Our mental resilience and momentum in the last 20 minutes has to be better as well.
“We have to be better at closing games out. And it’s something we work with. Different scenarios. Yellow cards, momentum shifts, external decisions that go against you. What’s our process? Let’s go to that anchor mindset.”
