Scotland's rollercoaster Six Nations had a terrible moment but represents improvement

France got there in the end, Thomas Ramos keeping his nerve to slot the penalty that beat England and broke Irish hearts.

Six hours earlier it was Ireland who had broken Scotland, as they always seem to do. They deserved to win in Dublin but you can only imagine the agonies their players, staff and supporters must have gone through watching France v England unfold.

It looked as if it was going to be Ireland’s year as an incredible game in Paris swung back towards England only for Henry Pollock to throw away possession in the final minute.

This was a tournament that showed just about anything is possible. Surely it has never been this competitive in the Six Nations era. To repeat rugby writer Peter Jackson’s summation: Wales who lost to England who lost to Ireland who lost to France who lost to Scotland who lost to Italy who lost to Wales.

Everyone is capable of beating everyone. Well, almost. Scotland cannot beat Ireland and that is a real problem given the sides will meet in next year’s Rugby World Cup in Australia. It’s 12 defeats in a row now for Gregor Townsend’s team against the Irish and they were distinctly second best at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

The Scots travelled to Dublin with high hopes of winning the Triple Crown and an outside shot at the title. Both dreams foundered on the back of a 43-21 home win.

No Scottish side have won at the Aviva since it was built on the site of the old Lansdowne Road in 2010. Under Townsend, Scotland have gone there six times and lost. The coach is unlikely to ever have to go there again given his contract will expire after the World Cup. A small consolation.

Townsend answered his Scotland critics

Of more comfort to Townsend will be the way his side recovered from a terrible start in rainy Rome to lift themselves into contention. A cloud of despondency had hovered over Scotland since the autumn collapse against Argentina and the downpour that defined their defeat by Italy seemed like an apt metaphor for where the national side were.

It felt as if the coach may have reached the end of the road with this talented group but he and they answered their critics in the best way possible seven days later with a riveting performance against England that was far more convincing than the 31-20 scoreline suggested. If Ireland are Townsend’s kryptonite, then he is England’s nemesis. His mastery of this fixture is unparalleled in the professional age, with five victories in the last six meetings.

A comeback win in Wales followed in which Scotland did not play particularly well but showed plenty of guts to retrieve a match they could easily have lost.

And then came France. Last weekend’s game at Murrayfield was one of those magical occasions that should be remembered as a Scottish sporting landmark. Townsend’s team sparkled in the Edinburgh sunshine, dismantling a previously unbeaten French side. Scoring seven tries, at one point they led 47-14. Fabien Galthie’s team rallied and the final scoreline was 50-40 but it’s crazy to think France conceded 98 points in their final two matches and still won the championship.

Those three Scotland wins provide evidence that progress has been made this season. Their third-place finish may feel a little flat given they travelled to Dublin with hopes of the title but it still represents improvement. It’s the first time in the Six Nations era that the Scots have been in the mix going into the final weekend.

It was also the fifth time they have won three of their five championship games in Townsend’s nine seasons in charge. Prior to his arrival, Scotland had done that only twice in 18 years.

Third place remains Scotland’s best finish and the biggest frustration for Townsend is likely to be the terrible start they made in Rome. His side lost the game in the opening 20 minutes, before the heavens opened and the sky fell in. No-one has the right to win any match, as Townsend noted in Dublin, but if Scotland have aspirations to be regular title contenders they need to be beating Italy. Wales showed them how on Sunday, saving their best to last with a 31-17 win in Cardiff.

The Scots played some wonderful attacking rugby at times, particularly against England and France, and scored 20 tries across their five games, 15 of them from back and five from forwards. Darcy Graham, who started the first three games on the bench, led the way with four. Fellow winger Kyle Steyn - a real success for Scotland - got three and there were doubles for Huw Jones, Ben White and Finn Russell.

Scotland scored 143 points but conceded 144 to finish the campaign with a negative points difference. They conceded 18 tries, 12 of them in the final two matches. Defensively, that doesn’t look great but it was the first Six Nations campaign with a new defence coach, Lee Radford having taken over from Steve Tandy.

If the backline dazzled, the pack had their problems. There were scrum troubles throughout the campaign and the lineout against Italy was a disaster. Zander Fagerson, a colossus in the scrum for a decade, didn’t seem to be fully firing but he’s a class act and will come again.

Hooker was something of a problem position. Townsend began the campaign with Ewan Ashman as his first choice then switched to George Turner before preferring Dave Cherry. He returned to Turner for the final two games, with Ashman on the bench, and it seemed more solid.

Gregor Brown burnished his credentials with a strong tournament before injury ruled him out of the Ireland game. Rory Darge was excellent throughout and would be in the mix with Steyn and Russell as Scotland’s players of the championship.

The national side now go into cold storage for three-and-a-half months and will emerge for the new Nations Championship in July, the first leg of which will see Scotland face Argentina in Cordoba, South Africa at Loftus Versfeld and Fiji at Murrayfield.

It's a tough programme and one that should give more evidence of Scotland's readiness for next year's World Cup.