Because of that lack of depth, Scotland are forced to play in a manner that isn’t conducive to grinding out Test match win after Test match win.
Their gameplan in Paris was clear. Keep the ball alive, take risks, play with pace and width and get their talented backline involved as much as possible.
“We played with some fantastic endeavour and were quite sharp on the ball, but we couldn’t break through, get in behind and really stress them,” former Scotland full-back Chris Paterson said.
“Scotland played the right way, gave ourselves the best opportunity by keeping the ball alive, playing as quick as possible. It wasn’t always accurate but it’s the right way to go about it.”
Former Scotland prop Peter Wright echoed those thoughts: “I was pretty proud of the way Scotland played. They stuck at it, went out and tried to play the game that could have beaten France.
“They had a go, moved the ball, played with width. [Blair] Kinghorn had one of his best games. [Duhan] van der Merwe and [Darcy] Graham looked dangerous.”
“[Finn] Russell will get a lot of criticism for certain things, but I thought he played pretty well and gave Scotland a chance. He varied the game enough to try and hurt the French.”
Townsend’s side were not fixated on playing the percentages and relying on a solid set-piece, because this Scotland team cannot do that.
They have magnificent moments in games, plays that take your breath away, but because of the high-risk strategy they rarely deliver for the duration of a match, let alone for multiple matches across a championship.
Their first-half performance was excellent at Stade de France, but they were brushed aside as legs grew tired and mistakes were punished.
Townsend’s side have beaten Italy and the worst Welsh team for a generation in this tournament. That is it.
Perhaps Wright summed it up best.
“Ultimately, France are a better side,” he said. “There are world-class players all over the pitch, they can bring real quality off the bench and that just adds to the tempo and physicality.”
