Ireland 17-13 Scotland: ‘Unpredictable Scotland go down fighting in wasted chance campaign’

You do not know what you are going to get, not even from match to match but from quarter to quarter.

They are infuriatingly unpredictable, throwing in extremes of performance that make it impossible for them to contend with any seriousness for a championship. They will never go anywhere until they remove the Laurel and Hardy routine.

They went 59 minutes without scoring against Ireland and went 50 minutes without scoring in Rome. Against England they had three tries after 44 minutes and couldn’t make it four. Against Wales they had three tries a few minutes into the second half and could not score again. They collapsed, but at least saved themselves. Against Italy they collapsed and kept on collapsing.

The French game was a massive opportunity lost. Of course there was the injustice with the Sam Skinner try that wasn’t, but there was also a butchered moment there.

Composure, instead of white line fever, would have allowed them to take a look around and see a team-mate in space out wide. Scotland were undone by the officials, but not solely by the officials. They had their own part to play in the downfall that day.

All of this amounts to a wasted chance for Scotland this year and, possibly, regret that will last a career. They lost to France by four points, to Italy by two and to Ireland by four. The nearly Grand Slam.

When will they again be in a position to achieve something worthwhile? Ireland were vintage in just one game – against France. Les Bleus will have Antoine Dupont back next season and should be more formidable. England looked to have turned a corner under Steve Borthwick. Italy have certainly turned a corner under Gonzalo Quesada.

This was a glorious chance for Scotland, if not to win the championship, then to secure their highest-ever finish. Fourth can only be deemed a significant failure.

Andy Christie was the breakout star of the championship for Scotland and maybe the musical chairs at blindside can stop now. The Saracen was exceptional on Saturday.

Russell’s admirable honesty laid it on the line, though. Mentality drifts.

His coach agreed and that must have been a ferociously hard thing for Townsend to accept.

This is his team and, despite the bravery of the performance in Dublin, they are going backwards.