Scottish Rugby's Doomsday Mentality and Why It Isn't Necessary

After a dour forecast from the experts, Scotland still have a realistic shot at Six Nations glory

The headlines in the week following Scotland's defeat to Italy in the opening week of the Six Nations made for grim reading: “Sorry Scotland's bid for a first Six Nations title in the country's history is lying in ruins,” lamented the Daily Herald. Meanwhile, the BBC’s Scottish Rugby correspondent gloomily surmised that “one win from five is the vista here.” Even before the tournament kicked off, the same journalist gave a fairly damning assessment of the team's chances: “They think they're capable, but they haven't proven it. They're all in rugby no-man's land.” A dour prediction, indeed.

Scotland should never have been written off the way they were after their loss in Rome, though. Italy are a force to be reckoned with in the Six Nations, and has been for some years now. They have beaten Australia, Wales, and now Scotland in the past year, seriously tested Ireland and England, and should have beaten France in Paris in 2024. Long gone are the days where the Italy game represented a four-point formality for the other nations, and it would be no great surprise if the Azzurri go on to take bigger scalps in the coming weeks. Scottish fans and the Scottish media were too quick to lose heart following the defeat to a strong Italy side with many predicting a resounding loss against a strong English side.

The Scottish fans are undeniably some of the most passionate rugby supporters in the world. Their noise and energy are probably a large part of why Murrayfield is so frequently where English Grand Slam hopes go to die. However, they are also some of the quickest to despair. There is a unique propensity for doom and gloom among Scotland fans, who seemed all too ready to write off their team before the tournament had even properly got going. Everyone now recognises that Scotland is a contender for the Six Nations title, but in the week before the England game, you would be forgiven for thinking they were locked in a battle to avoid last place, based on the kind of grim assessments that were circulating in the Scottish media. 

In fact, the only optimistic assessments of Scotland's chances that I heard in the lead-up to this year’s Calcutta Cup clash were on the way to the stadium. One of them was from an England fan that I talked to on the train, who said that the buildup to the game had been uncannily similar to that of the 2000 fixture, which he had attended. On that day, an underestimated Scotland beat England 19-13 at Murrayfield. His warnings were echoed by a prophetic, if slightly plastered, Glaswegian man outside one of the pubs around the stadium: “Keep dreaming,” he told the group of England fans I was standing in, before stumbling off in the direction of the stadium. 

A couple of weeks on, there has been a seismic shift in the narrative after Scotland’s resounding 31-20 win against England, vindicating our Glaswegian friend and reigniting the Scots’ championship bid. After their dramatic last-minute victory against Wales in Cardiff, Scotland’s hopes of pulling off an unlikely Championship win are still very much alive. Next, they play France at home, and while that is a tough game, it’s a fixture they have won five times out of the last eight they have played at home. The game against England showed just how significant an advantage fortress Murrayfield can be in big games. They travel to Dublin on the final weekend to play a diminished Ireland side with an ever-growing injury list.

Maybe Scottish journalists and fans need to have a bit more confidence in Gregor Townsend and his team. This tournament is wide open for them — England are bruised and have tough fixtures ahead, Ireland are a shadow of their former selves, and Scotland will have a chance to upset the French juggernaut at Murrayfield. If the Scottish team and their fans maintain the same belief they had off the back of their Calcutta Cup victory, who’s to say a first Six Nations title isn’t on the cards?  

Photo taken from Wikimedia Commons