The Boys in Blue no longer have the blues...

Being Scottish and a rugby fan equates to much pain, much of the time, so when good things happen they’re all the sweeter.

So, we beat England for the first time in ten years. That’s a long time; England have ten times as many players as we have, ten times as much money, so it’s no surprise really.  And in a neat way, we beat them, on average, every ten years. And normally we beat them in a scrap to the end. Winning ugly and desperately. And we don't beat the Welsh or the Irish much either. But this Scotland team is different from most of the Scotland teams of the last twenty years. They do all the hard work, those warrior forwards. Whatever changes, rugby remains a game that is won or lost in the forwards. But, in this team there is beauty too. And personality. And panache.  Epitomised by Finn Russell. He makes passes that few other players in the world could even contemplate, let alone execute. It doesn’t always go right but when it does the rugby this team plays is arguably the most spectacular around.  His long, looping pass to Huw Jones who took the ball at pace and ran to the other end of the pitch, leading to Maitland’s try, was wondrous. This is a rather new feeling. Up until a year or two ago, we didn’t really score tries like that. In that surreal first half we scored more tries against England than we have in the last five matches at Murrayfield. For too long we’ve accepted mediocrity but the good work started by Vern Cotter and continued by Gregor Townsend makes this victory feels a little different. Vern gave us balls, toughness and a better winning mentality. Gregor, of course, has added the sprinkling of flair and pace which had been developing these last couple of years. If that combination can be maintained, we may finally begin to gain some respect internationally and feel proud to be Scottish (in Rugby terms). Perhaps a false dawn but I have a feeling it’s a new dawn. We’ll see in two weeks in Dublin.