THE HERALD REPORTS

HUGH MacDONALD, Chief Sportswriter February 09 2009

THE raw recruit held out a glimmer of hope but the pain of the defeat showed in the eyes of those who had been in the heat of the battle for all its merciless intensity.

Max Evans, who came off the bench to score his first try, could afford to look forward as he seemed unmarked by the fearful collision with the Welsh. "I definitely would love to start against France," he said. "It could be my kind of game."

His ebullience was in marked contrast to the rest of the Scottish team. Evans, though, had a reason to be cheerful. He had shown in a cameo of a role that he could be a game winner.

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Evans was refreshingly candid, too, about how he views his prospects. "It is all new to me," he said. "I am trying to concentrate on my game. I want to come off the pitch every game and be happy with what I have done, whether the team wins or not. Obviously, I would love it to be a win for the team but because I am new to it all I am focusing on my game."

He added of his performance yesterday: "I was happy, though it would have been great to create more and win the game."

Evans relished his appearance in what seemed a lost cause with Wales dominating the match and cruising to victory.

"I think it is almost slightly easier than coming on when the team are winning because you have that attitude that you believe you can make a difference because the team are behind. You have nothing to lose so can give everything as opposed to coming on to a winning team and thinking in the back of the mind that you can let it slip for them."

If Evans was buoyed by his try and the prospect of starting in Paris next week, two of his more experienced team-mates were desolate after a crushing defeat.

Phil Godman had talked earlier in the week about how he hoped to dominate the game at stand-off but he was condemned yesterday to reacting to Welsh moves rather than initiating Scottish attacks. He was brutally candid about Scotland's failings.

"We failed to win the battle physically," he said. "In the contact zone, we were struggling. It was hard to find holes in their defence and when we did we made too many errors. It was a tentative start by us."

His face marked with both exertion and contact with the opposition, he emphasised: "Rugby is a physical game and you have to win that battle."

Wales grasped the game early and their grip was only weakened when the tie was effectively won. "We did not start well and did not get into the game until the last 15 minutes and that is unacceptable," said Godman. "We struggled to get on the front foot and when we did get the ball there were too many errors. It is really frustrating."

Jason White was equally forthright. The former Scotland captain played in the unusual role of second row and was part of a scrum that was dominated by the grand slam champions.

"We didn't get wired in the way we should have done," he said simply. "We have to be realistic. We were not good enough."

He believed Scotland stood off an already confident Wales side, allowing them to grow in stature. "We did not dominate in defence. They won the collisions in the tackle," he added.

Scotland now head for Paris to play a France side also nursing the bruises of defeat. "The beauty of it all is that there is a quick turnaround," said White of meeting France on Saturday.

He admitted, however: "It is a massive, massive challenge. They will be gunning for victory after losing yesterday but there is nothing better than getting back on the pitch."

White, though, could not disguise the hurt of what happened yesterday. "We all take the blame. I don't think there was anyone without blame today," he added.

Evans may disagree but he could make his point more forcibly on Saturday.

This article was posted on 9-Feb-2009, 08:25 by Hugh Barrow.