‘Still a mental block’: Jim Hamilton on why Scotland players must take the next step

The former second-row forward ranks it among the best displays he has ever seen from the team he represented with pride on 63 occasions. Finn Russell in particular caught his eye: “One of the greatest performances I've seen from a 10 in a long time,” said the lock.

So why, then, do doubts linger? What is it about this side that they can perform like world-beaters when England are in town but stumble against lesser opponents? Italy in rain-drenched Rome the previous week being a case in point.

Courtney Lawes, the former England flanker, said in his newspaper column last week that Scotland’s obsession with England holds them back.

Gregor Townsend was asked about this before and after the game and said post-match that he doesn’t understand why Scotland’s ability to raise their game for the Calcutta Cup is seen as a negative. The truth is that the vast majority of Scottish people love to see the national side getting the better of England. But it is also the case that they would like to see them beating other teams as well, starting with Wales in Cardiff this Saturday.

Question marks still linger

Scotland are heavy odds-on favourites (as short as 1/20 with some bookmakers) but history offers a cautionary tale: on six of the last seven occasions Scotland have beaten England in the Six Nations, they have followed it up with a defeat in their very next game.

Hamilton, who will be part of Premier Sports' live coverage from the Principality Stadium, finds Scotland “maddeningly inconsistent” and is inclined to agree with Lawes.

“We can hype up the game last weekend and I'm happy to do that,” says Hamilton. “I thought we were incredible. That's as good a performance as you'll see by any team, anywhere, anytime. But… the question marks will still linger until things change and the narrative changes.”

The narrative he wants to see is Scotland being able to follow up a win over England with another victory, and then another and then perhaps a title, or at least a Triple Crown.

“There still is a mental block within the team,” says Hamilton. “We can all see that. It doesn't take the people writing in newspapers to see that. So Courtney Lawes has got a point, right? And so has Dan Biggar who I do a podcast with. He said he would give up beating England every year if it meant he won a championship. And that's a great way of putting it.

“Would we be the same? If we lost to England but we beat every team and we won the championship, would we take it? We probably would now. We're probably at that stage where we can say for the next evolution of this team and to be taken seriously, it's not by beating England and beating England how we did. It's actually to win a championship, and maybe losing against England along the way.

“We're talking about a team who are maddeningly inconsistent at times. Are there some occasions you just have to accept that and say these guys cannot play right at the top of their game and be world class every time? Or are there things you can do with an individual, with a squad to say, ‘for God's sake, you're capable of doing that game after game after game?’

How do they take the next step?

“How do they take the next step in other words? Well, the next step is down to the players and this isn't me shirking Gregor Townsend because I like Gregor. I do agree at some point there's going to be a change. Naturally, there's going to be an organic shift.”

Hamilton references his own career and in particular the titans he played with at Leicester Tigers and Saracens. Amongst them were World Cup winners, and players who lifted the top club honours. “Born leaders, lads that have been there and done that and that's the difference between a good team that can put in great performances, a la Scotland, and a great team that go on to win championships. It's player-led is what I'm saying.”

He likes what he’s seen at Glasgow Warriors and in particular their performances in Europe this season. The leadership offered by Kyle Steyn and Sione Tuipulotu, captains of Glasgow and Scotland respectively, gives him hope but he feels the national side are lacking a figurehead in the pack.

Who are the natural leaders in the forwards?

“Like [Glasgow against] Toulouse when they were 21-0 down and go on to win that game. That's a team that knows how to win and we've yet to break into that in the Scotland team because that Italy game was there, even in those conditions, for the taking, as much as Italy are better now. So, until we break that mould, until we go to Wales and beat Wales and play well, beat France at home, having probably not played that well, that question will always linger on.”

“It's player-led,” he repeats, “and this is where there needs to be a shift in Scotland. What is a leader, what does leadership look like and how are we producing organic, natural leaders?

“Kyle Steyn, I didn't really agree with him being captain from the wing. [But] the more I've got to know and the more that I've seen him, he's a born leader. He's a leader, a natural captain.

“Sione, for me, is a natural leader. He gets it, he lives it, he breathes it. Sione is the right man. Who are the leaders in the forwards? Who are the natural leaders in the forwards that win you games? And that is what we're looking for, aren't we?”

• Jim Hamilton is part of the Premier Sports team bringing live Guinness Men's Six Nations Rugby to rugby fans across the UK - broadcasting one live match per round throughout the 2026 Championship. This Saturday join Jim Hamilton, Ryan Wilson, Tom Shanklin, Rory Lawson and Ryle Nugent pitchside at the Principality Stadium for Wales v Scotland on Premier Sports 1 and Premier Sports Rugby from 4pm. To join in visit www.premiersports.com from £11.99 a month.

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