Does Scotland’s victory over England prove that Gregor Townsend’s side have Six Nations winning credentials?

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Most Scotland supporters will admit that the weekend’s victory over England was far from their best performance, but many recognise that teams of the past would succumb to the late English pressure.

There have been so many tales of glorious defeats, a term that has defined Scottish Rugby up until recently.

However, this newer generation seems to have a different belief and are breaking down the age-old records which have haunted the nation for years.

Until February 2021, Scotland had not won at Twickenham since 1983, but that record was shattered with an 11-6 win in last season’s Six Nations competition.

Scotland truly bullied England despite the scoreline suggesting it was a tighter game.

Another unwanted statistic is that Scotland had failed to beat England in consecutive years since 1984. Once again, Gregor Townsend’s squad banished the woes of the past by beating Eddie Jones’ England 20-17 last weekend.

This may be Scotland’s best set of players since the 1999 Five Nations Championship win, where they were four points away from the Grand Slam.

The question on the lips of many rugby supporters is whether this is finally the year Scotland can fulfil their potential and win the Six Nations for the first time.

Currently, Scotland has eight British and Irish Lions capped players in their squad and have great strength in depth, but consistency has always been a problem.

Wins at home have never really been a problem and Scotland has always been able to produce a shock win in most Six Nations, but they seem consistently daunted by trips away from Murrayfield.

If Scotland are to have any hope of ending their Six Nations drought, then they must find a way to win in Cardiff, Dublin and Rome.

During the last competition, Townsend’s team managed wins in Paris and London but faltered at home, possibly due to the lack of crowds because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Defence is now a big part of Scotland’s game, as proven against England, which will help when the team is under pressure away from home.

Scotland completed 97% of their tackles on Saturday and they will look to continue this against a struggling Wales side.

A big blow to Scotland’s hopes is the injury to flanker Jamie Ritchie which was sustained in the Calcutta Cup clash, but fantastic prospect Rory Darge or the in-form Magnus Bradbury should be more than adequate replacements.

Finally, it seems that Scotland’s backs are settled, but there is always a chance that Townsend could throw a curveball in there as the tournament goes on, with Cameron Redpath potentially pushing Sam Johnston.

Scotland’s ruthlessness has been questioned in the past, however, they proved against England that they only need a bit of space for the magic feet of Darcy Graham or the power of Duhan van der Merwe to unlock the opposition’s defensive line.

Stopping Ireland and neutralising the sublime threat of France is the key to having a chance of winning the Six Nations.

The Scottish team have already proven that they can win tight games despite not playing particularly well, but the problem is that they may not be able to do this on a regular basis.

If they can find this golden consistency, then there is no reason why Scotland cannot win the Six Nations.

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