We recently covered Matt Williams' controversial comments following Scotland’s disappointingly predictable defeat to Wales in round two of the Six Nations.
The former Scottish coach was speaking on Virgin Media after the match when he said, “I think the talk about it being their year was coming from the Scotland camp. Again they’ve just got to shut up.
“Until they action out and actually live their talk they’ve got to shut up because they’re making fools of themselves. Because they’ve done this about four years in a row, they win a couple of biggies and then the next week they lose.”
"They just gotta shut up. Until they actually action out, and live their talk, they've got to shut up. They've been making fools of themselves."
Ian McKinley, Matt Williams and Rob Kearney on Scotland after defeat yesterday.#WALvSCO #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/gDLwI4CSwi— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) February 13, 2022
A lot of criticism came the way of Matt Williams, firstly because it appeared that there wasn’t any ‘talk’ coming from the Scotland camp, and secondly due to Williams’ abysmal record as Scotland coach.
This, of course, is not the first time Matt Williams has angered Scotland fans after speaking on Virgin Media.
Six Nations: Scotland under Matt Williams
Interestingly, a former Scotland player has weighed in on Williams's ill-fated time as Scotland coach. In his column for RugbyPass, former Scotland international Johnnie Beattie was also critical of Williams, and spoke of his flaws as head coach of Scotland.
“I was only involved with one camp during his tenure, my first with the national team. As we gathered for the first meeting, he had us stand like registration at school.
Then it went something like this:
‘Who has taken their protein shake today? If you haven’t, sit down.’
A few boys sheepishly took their seats.
‘Who has brought their diary to this meeting? If you haven’t, sit down.
‘Who has had their ice bath? If you haven’t, sit down.
‘Who has done their video analysis? If you haven’t, sit down.’
He wanted to stress how horribly unprofessional everybody was, without really offering any tactical or strategic help. It was just lambasting players. And if you’re wondering, the only person left standing was Chris Paterson.
Now, I don’t know Matt at all, but it is frustrating to hear, statistically, the worst Scottish coach of all time slamming Gregor Townsend, who is statistically the best."
Beattie's piece goes on to describe his disappointment at watching Scotland get hammered on Saturday by France, and plenty of pundits beyond Williams are asking if Scotland will deliver on the promise showed when they beat England. Scotland will be in Dublin in less than three time. The only way Scotland will ever shut up rugby pundits in this country is to claim a big scalp in Dublin. Until that happens however, they remain fair game for criticism.
See Also: 'To A Certain Extent, You're Scared Of Being Forgotten About'
