By the time the sides meet at Murrayfield in the 2027 Six Nations, it will have been a decade since the Scots last tasted victory over the Irish.
Andy Farrell’s side are one of the best in the world and it has been Townsend’s misfortune that his reign has coincided with the strongest period in Irish rugby history.
The counterpoint is that he has faced other top sides – not least a France team in round four that looked on an unstoppable charge to the Grand Slam – and devised a gameplan to beat them.
Yet Townsend seems no closer to solving the Irish puzzle that has wrecked his ambitions at two World Cups and numerous Six Nations. They will meet again in the pool stage of the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
It is impossible not to judge this defeat as the latest chapter of the same story, but it is worth considering many Irish pundits and journalists viewed this as Ireland’s best performance since the 2023 World Cup.
Scotland bookending their campaign with the dispiriting loss in Rome and another sobering lesson in Dublin does leave that familiar flat feeling, but the three wins in between provided definite grounds for optimism.
With many predicting a bottom-half finish, third place– as high as Scotland have ever placed in the Six Nations – represents a solid campaign. The problem is for some of Scotland’s more experienced heads, solid is no longer enough.
“At the end of the game, you see the Irish boys lifting the Triple Crown and you know it was on the line today,” Jones said.
“You don’t know how long you’re going to have time in the jersey. You don’t know when your next opportunities are going to be, if they’re going to be there or not.
“So, you’ve got to grab at any chance you get. We didn’t get it right. There have been times in the championship where we’ve been brilliant. We haven’t all the time. I think in this competition, to win it, you have to be at your best every week. We’ve never really found that.
“I believe in this group that we have the potential to do that. We just haven’t got it right this year.”
