It may be England’s replacements bench who proudly wear the label of finishers but, judging by the first three rounds of the Six Nations, it could equally apply to Scotland’s back line. Stuart Hogg has already scored three tries while Tommy Seymour, Tim Visser and Alex Dunbar all have one each; not so long ago it was widely accepted that Scotland could not finish their dinner.
They are not the top try-scorers, largely by virtue of having not yet played Italy, but what makes their finishing all the more remarkable is how clinical it has been. Attempting to define precisely what constitutes a reasonable try-scoring chance is always going to be a subjective process but surely Scotland’s conversion rate would be highest.
There have been some wonderful scores for Vern Cotter’s side, too. Hogg made Ireland’s defence look foolish indeed with his second against them, while Tim Swinson’s against France was wonderful in its execution. Dunbar’s was joyfully inventive while against Wales, Visser’s try was down to the zipped pass from Finn Russell and Hogg’s lightning quick hands, and Seymour’s finish is required viewing for anyone yet to see it. Russell can blow hot and cold but at the top of his game he is a joy to watch, though aside from their mercurial No10, what is behind the cure to Scotland’s white-line fever?
Seymour credits their backs coach, Jason O’Halloran, a one-cap All Black who arrived after the 2015 World Cup. “We’ve always highlighted that we needed to get better at it. Everyone will say that: it comes down to fine margins,” says Seymour. “We’ve put in a lot of hard work – Jase has done wonderful things in regards to building a structure where the boys have confidence to execute under pressure in tight spaces and tight games. We’ve taken those small, fine opportunities and that’s led us to where we are now.”
As burgeoning a reputation as O’Halloran has, however – and Warren Gatland has tried and failed to recruit his compatriot for the Lions’ tour to their New Zealand homeland in the summer – there must be more to it than that. The way Scotland have stopped butchering chances chimes with the manner in which they have learned to close out tight matches, which was no more evident than against Ireland.
“When the tide starts to change and you start having the mental ability and the squad starts to feel comfortable in being able to see games out when they are not clear-cut margins, that breeds a lot of confidence,” adds Seymour. “But just because we’ve had a couple of wins, we’re by no means where we want to be. All the big talk about us is being done by everyone else.”
England at Twickenham, pursuing a record-equalling 18th victory, is a different challenge altogether however and all the more so considering their frustrations at not being able to take Italy “to the cleaners”. While he spent most of time lamenting Italy’s anti-rugby, Eddie Jones could not help but stir the pot before next Saturday’s Calcutta Cup match. Scotland, according to Jones, have a weight of expectation upon them as they seek a first win at Twickenham since 1983. But while Jones is correct in the sense that Scotland have never been in a better place to win the Six Nations at this stage of the competition, Seymour firmly disagrees with the claim his side are “on a roll”.
“The roll comment has been massively emphasised,” says Seymour. “We are more interested in keeping a consistency of performance rather than hyping some sort of resurgence and being on a roll. England being on 17 in a row is a roll.
“England-Scotland will always be a rivalry. As for how much bearing it has on this game, of course it will be there, but we can’t get drawn into that. The supporters maybe will enjoy that aspect more than we will. I’m not saying that we don’t use that as a source of motivation, but we have to be focused on the technical aspects, the improvement, the performance, the consistency.”
Jones was happy to lob a few grenades in Scotland’s general direction last Sunday but he knew better than to take aim at Cotter, reserving nothing for the New Zealander, whose departure from his post after the Championship looks all the more surprising as each match goes by.
Seymour adds: “A very scary man. He came with a massive reputation. He’s a big man, I’m fairly certain he could crush me with one hand. He was a guy that clearly had a vision, had a lot of direction, very detailed, demands high standards, like the players was fed up with the way people perceived Scottish rugby. It was great for a playing group to have a coach who felt that way and was quite vocal about it as well.”
On the topic of finishing, there would be few better ways for Cotter to bid farewell than with a first win at Twickenham in 34 years.
