Cusiter: frustrated Scotland failed to win Pic: © SNS Group
“The game was there for the taking” according to Scotland captain Chris Cusiter. “We played good enough rugby to win that game. But unfortunate we couldn’t take it. It’s frustrating obviously."
Cusiter, who had had a virus earlier in the week, had one of his best games for Scotland, making one break off the base of a ruck which might have been decisive had his attempted offload gone to hand.
“After what’s been going on and particularly after what happened in Cardiff we were pleased to get a draw. Obviously they had a long-range penalty and drop goal charged down so they could have won”
Like his boss, coach Andy Robinson, he was surprised that the referee didn’t yellow card some of the English players. “I was surprised [he didn’t pull out the yellow card] I talked to [the referee] about it and he told me that they (England )had responded well. But yellow cards have been key turning points in this six nations.
Cusiter’s frustration was plain to see. “We certainly take a lot of positives. We were attacking well, casing them problems, our set pieces functioned well, we made a number of line breaks. We have to be more decisive when we get it on their 22 because we’re getting good ball in those areas.
It’s a draw and a strange result to digest because we didn’t win it but at the same time they had a late penalty and a drop goal charged down so we could have lost.”
With only Ireland left to play in this year’s tournament, Scotland go to Dublin with nothing to lose and a strong sense of what might have been. They should have won in Wales and Italy and they certainly could have beaten the auld enemy. As it is they have only one point to show for their efforts.
But Cusiter remained optimistic. “We go to Ireland with a lot of confidence with nothing to lose. We look forward to that. “
