Scotland’s gamble of starting with Ali Price against proves costly error | Andy Bull


Gregor Townsend left Greig Laidlaw on the bench, preferring the young Glasgow scrum-half, and by the time the steady old hand got on Scotland were 20-0 down

Optimism does not come easy to the Scottish, not in the Six Nations, where their team has lost almost three times as many games as they have won. Their fans’ faith has been worn thin by all those fourth and fifth and sixth place finishes since they won the final Five Nations back in 1999. This year looked set to be a little different, though, after their fine performances in the autumn. They came to Cardiff with a slick team, a sharp coach and high hopes. These lasted 11 minutes, like some brief glimpse of sunshine between the clouds in a long, cold winter. By that time, Wales were 14-0 up and Scotland’s chances were long gone.

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