Momentary lapses derailed Scotland's Six Nations campaign
SIX NATIONS: Fraser Brown says Scotland need to eliminate the momentary lapses that have derailed their Six Nations bid as they prepare to host championship leaders Wales at Murrayfield.
Back-to-back losses to Ireland and France have ruled Gregor Townsend’s men out of the championship chase but hooker Brown says there are no major problems with the way team have approached this year’s competition.
Instead, he believes a few minor tweaks could put Scotland back on the path to victory when Warren Gatland’s Grand Slam hopefuls visit Edinburgh on Saturday.
“If you lose two games in a row, it’s very easy to paint the picture in the media that there is something wrong and that you’ve lost that winning habit,” said the Glasgow forward.
“It’s not as complicated as that. It’s tiny little things in each game. We went in against France at half-time 10-3 down and had had opportunities to score there.
“These are the tiny little moments that can sway a game. The tiny percentages, not being 20 percent off the mark, but three or four moments is where a game is won or lost.”
Scotland have welcomed Finn Russell, Hamish Watson, WP Nel and Sam Skinner back from injury this week, although there was fresh frustration for Townsend, with Sean Maitland and Chris Harris the latest additions to his lengthy casualty list.
Brown knows his side are in for another tough afternoon against a Wales team looking to take another step towards their first clean sweep since 2012.
“They’ve not lost in 12 games,” he said. “We’ve beaten them once in 10 years so they’re a difficult side and we’ve struggled against them.
“Wales are on a high, they’re on a great run and will be full of confidence. They’ll have extra confidence because they don’t often lose to Scotland, so they’ll be coming here thinking if they can control the tempo and then the field position they’ll have a good shot of winning again.
“On the flip side, we know if we can match them physically, win the battle around the breakdown, if we can manage the game better than we did in the last couple of matches then we’re good enough to win any match.”
AFP
