Six Nations 2013 – Murrayfield explained

In the lead-up to the Six Nations’ round-three matches, tGL indicated that possession efficiency, and not just high possession and/or territory percentages, was the key to victories, so the almost universal ‘How did they do that?’ reaction that followed Scotland’s ‘surprise’ 12-8 home win against Ireland was a little disappointing, but almost totally predictable. When a team manufactures victory from such scarce raw material, the standard option is disbelief. In the eyes of so many, the Murrayfield outcome simply didn’t arrive the way it was supposed to, but to think sporting logic was defied, or that statistics might somehow be irrelevant as a consequence, is off the mark; after all, the right information was all there beforehand.