McCormack counts cost of Brough binning

Scotland coach Steve McCormack was very proud of the display of his team in defeat against England on Saturday at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.

Although the Scots lost the game 38 – 12, but scored three tries and led for much of the first half.

McCormack felt that the yellow card Danny Brough received midway through the second half took some of the gas from his team’s tank at a crucial time in the game, though.

“I think it was harsh, I really do,” he said in the post-match press conference, when asked about Brough’s yellow card.

“But you get those, and to be fair we dug in when we went down one man.

“I do think it was harsh, but you get those kinds of decisions.”

The Bravehearts coach also felt that the scoreline was somewhat lopsided, and didn’t give an especially fair reflection of the game.

“I don’t think it does, but all credit to England,” he said.

“When we put them under a bit of pressure. I thought at the back end of the game, that they were getting better as the game went on.

“But when you take into consideration a really heavy penalty count and a sinbinning, then I thought the effort from our lads was sensational, to be fair.

“I think anybody who questioned us being in this competition before this game, will not be questioning us after that performance.”

McCormack felt that his team had improved from the previous week’s defeat to Australia and that they tested the English, and made a much better start to the game.

“I thought we were good in early periods,” he said.

“We spoke about that all week, that we had to start better than last Friday.

“We challenged England, our structure was good. I thought we executed our plays really well.

“We were good value for the lead early on.

“There was probabkly 15 minutes where we didn’t get the ball, but that’s credit to England.

“I thought as the game went on that they were good. A couple of errors, a few penalties, and England camped in our half.

“We defended really well, considering the amount of ball England had.”

One moment which did light up the game was Matty Russell’s acrobatic try for Scotland in the first half.

McCormack hailed the finish by the Irvine-born winger.

“Some try that – outstanding,” he said.

“They must have watched it a hundred times not to give it!

“It was a sensational try.”