A propensity to implode, as they did in Rome, will continue to hold back Gregor Townsend's Scotland, writes Tom English.
Half an hour after Italy delivered a victory so seismic it might have brought all the statues in Rome back to life, the clean-up mob moved into Stadio OIimpico.
They can turn in big performances, they can beat better-resourced teams. They can thrill, as they did in the first half against Wales, as they did when scoring those wonderful tries to put England to sleep, as they've done routinely in the Townsend age. The boffins got to work into the night. Scotland can still win the championship, they concluded. If Wales beat France on Sunday and England lose to France next Saturday, then a 39-point victory over Ireland at the Aviva would probably get the job done.
George Turner was on full thunder mode. Andy Christie was having a stormer. Finn Russell wasn't electrifying, but he dropped in little moments of class, like the 50-22 that sparked the score for Schoeman. Scotland needed a settler and thought they had one when George Horne scored two minutes into the second half. It was ruled out, correctly. Two minutes after that, Blair Kinghorn put in an awful kick that proved the catalyst for Louis Lynagh to score.In the BBC Sport app you can now set notifications for Scottish rugby, ensuring you never miss any of the news, views and conversation around the Scotland national teams, plus Glasgow and Edinburgh.
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