Having entered this year's Six Nations with high hopes of perhaps competing for a championship, the tournament could hardly have gone much worse for Scotland. Despite winning their opening game against England, they would follow that up with four fairly dour performances.
Yesterday's loss to Ireland was yet another disappointing showing from Gregor Townsend's side, never really looking like they were going to win the game. They were well outplayed by an Irish side that never really got out of third gear.
Of course, all of this comes after some controversy earlier in the week, with a number of players breaching team orders to go on a night out after their victory over Italy last weekend. Captain Stuart Hogg was among that bunch, something that inevitably was brought up in his post-match press conference in Dublin.
Stuart Hogg unhappy with media questioning in Dublin
Speaking to the media, Stuart Hogg became increasingly tetchy as he was asked a number of questions about his breach of discipline.
We held our hands up, we knew we made a mistake and we just got on with making sure we prepared the best possible way.
It was a challenging week but we had one of our best weeks of preparation and really stuck together and got on with our jobs. That had a massive effect on how we went at this game and unfortunately, we weren’t able to back it up the second half...
The main thing for us is we concentrate on doing what we can. For us, we talk a lot about staying connected as a team – it’s the players, the coaches, the management that matters to us, everything else is irrelevant to me...
I held my hand up and said I made a mistake and it is something that will hurt me for a long, long time. But today I felt we played some good rugby at times and it made for a good game. The first 40 minutes was as good as we played. I’ll probably concentrate on that...
I don’t know how many times I am going to say I apologised and put my hand up. I knew I had made a mistake.
I am very disappointed with what happened, I can’t sit here and say that I am not disappointed. For me I was annoyed, I was frustrated but I can’t go back and change anything. I don’t want to really dwell on it. I appreciate what you are after here but you are not going to get it.
In fact, the Scot would even make a parting statement as he left the room.
In the video below just before the 6:00 mark, Hogg can be heard muttering 'I'll not miss that' as he gets up to walk away from the table.
Stuart Hogg has been known for keeping a very positive outlook on Scotland's fortunes, although this year's Six Nations seems to have sapped much of that enthusiasm.
While a team with undoubted potential, they seem a mile away from fulfilling that as things stand.
SEE ALSO: Harsh Truths Uttered In Wales Huddle After Defeat To Italy
