\n<\/p>\n
Half an hour after Italy delivered a victory so seismic it might have brought all the statues in Rome back to life, the clean-up mob moved into Stadio OIimpico.<\/span><\/p>\n Hoists were wheeled out to bring down the goalposts. Water guns blasted the pitch markings. The corner flags were whisked away and the branding was peeled off. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n If only Scotland’s nightmares could have disappeared in similar fashion. As much as Italian joy will linger, so too will Scotland despondency. <\/span><\/p>\n Twenty-one unanswered Italian points, seven consecutive penalties conceded, a 12-point lead blown and a lack of discipline that would be truly shocking had we not already known Gregor Townsend’s team, for all its excellence at times, has a flakiness it will probably never lose.<\/span><\/p>\n Flamboyance is part of this team. Creativity, ambition, tries from the gods – all of this is an element of what they are. <\/span><\/p>\n They can turn in big performances, they can beat better-resourced teams. They can thrill, as they did in the first half against Wales, as they did when scoring those wonderful tries to put England to sleep, as they’ve done routinely in the Townsend age. <\/span><\/p>\n What’s also in them – and what will hold them back from being true contenders in this tournament – is a propensity to implode, to make daft decisions under pressure, to give away penalties that keep opponents believing, to reveal a soft underbelly and invite hungry rivals to attack it, which Italy did. <\/span><\/p>\n And in terms of mental strength, the Italians wiped the floor with Scotland. <\/span><\/p>\n Apparently, the Scots have a mental strength coach – his official title may be loftier – but where’s the evidence he’s having an impact? A near collapse in Cardiff and a total disintegration in Rome. And now a trip to Dublin against the wounded Irish. <\/span><\/p>\n Are we into the realms of requiring a mental strength coach to help the mental strength coach in his attempts to pick Scotland off the floor for a final push in a championship that has gone to pot? <\/span><\/p>\n The way things transpired at Twickenham, had Scotland done their stuff in Rome, they would have had a shot at the title in Dublin next Saturday. It was like a second kick to the gut for the vast army of visiting supporters, 15,000-strong. <\/span><\/p>\n The boffins got to work into the night. Scotland can still win the championship, they concluded. If Wales beat France on Sunday and England lose to France next Saturday, then a 39-point victory over Ireland at the Aviva would probably get the job done.<\/span><\/p>\n That’s as long as Ireland don’t get a losing point. Archimedes would have nodded his approval at the arithmetic while laughing his head off at the possibility.<\/span><\/p>\n Scotland were good for half an hour in Rome. They were clinical and in control. Zander Fagerson drove over after Scotland’s forwards put their counterparts under intolerable pressure. <\/span><\/p>\n Kyle Steyn scored another after quick thinking at a line-out and significant carries from Duhan van der Merwe and Jack Dempsey. Pierre Schoeman got on the end of a maul and that was try number three after 27 minutes. Scotland led 22-10. And it was almost easy.<\/span><\/p>\n George Turner was on full thunder mode. Andy Christie was having a stormer. Finn Russell wasn’t electrifying, but he dropped in little moments of class, like the 50-22 that sparked the score for Schoeman. <\/span><\/p>\n They looked a confident team making light of the fatalism that some, or many, of their fans would have carried with them to Rome. They looked mature. A team you could trust.<\/span><\/p>\n And then it turned. It’s ridiculous to think the penalty Paolo Garbisi landed to make it 22-13 after 35 minutes would have sent little shoots of concern around the place, but it did. Turner was done for not releasing and Martin Page-Relo put up another three points. <\/span><\/p>\n Italy dominated the remaining minutes of the half. The home crowd became engaged after being silenced for so long.<\/span><\/p>\n Scotland needed a settler and thought they had one when George Horne scored two minutes into the second half. It was ruled out, correctly. Two minutes after that, Blair Kinghorn put in an awful kick that proved the catalyst for Louis Lynagh to score. <\/span><\/p>\n Italy trailed by one point and it had all become redolent of Cardiff. <\/span><\/p>\n‘Scotland minds turned to marshmallow’<\/h3>\n