Jim Hamilton: ‘We are closer and can go to Ireland and get the win’

“The biggest positive for me is that we were so dangerous against a very good French defence”

FRUSTRATION and disappointment are becoming annoying bedfellows in this RBS Six Nations Championship, but I am even more convinced after that loss to France that we are on the right track.

I genuinely believed that we could beat France, the second-best team in the world, arguably, and there was nothing that happened in the game to make me believe that was unrealistic. We have been here before and it’s not a great place to be, playing well and losing, but there are clear reasons why I believe in what we’re doing, and I believe in the coaches and the guys we are playing with.

We are a good team and you saw it again in large patches out there. We can do a lot of things better than a lot of teams, starting with the attacking game we had out there today which broke France down and caused them a lot of problems. I had a good chat with Thierry Dusautoir and Imanol Harinordoquy after the game, and they said they were gob-smacked in the first 30 minutes about the way the game had gone to that point. You could see it on the pitch actually and we knew we had them.

Our lineout also went really well for us, again. I went through their lineout with a fine-tooth comb and it is undoubtedly one of the best in the world, if not the best lineout. Yet, we did well, stole a couple of theirs, lost none of ours and had a good platform there. But it’s the consistency and that is what has cost us the game.

I don’t want to talk too much so quickly after a game because it’s difficult with the frustration filling my head at the moment. I could talk about referees, about mistakes by us, things we could have done better, but we will reflect more once we look back on the game in clearer detail.

But there is no escaping the fact that we struggled in the scrum in the second half and they got themselves into the ascendency. The trouble is that we don’t have to play badly for that to be the case. These guys are the best in the business in the scrums and have the ability to change what they’re doing to go at us in a different way, when, as was the case in the first half, we are coping quite well and asking questions of them.

Every single team that they play against they are on top and for us to have parity in that first half was a real achievement. We spoke about it at half-time and knew what we wanted to do in the second half, but ultimately we could not deal with what they had to offer in the second half – especially when they brought two more very strong front rows on – and that is credit to the French.

We wanted to do well – don’t think we didn’t work flat-out in training and in the game to make it different – and against England and Wales we did well in the scrum, but that ultimately is a big learning experience for us. Still, we could have won the match even with that pressure. It is always difficult to talk about positives when you have lost, and I don’t like doing it because you play for just one thing – to win – but it doesn’t serve any great purpose to beat yourself up with two games still to go in the championship. The coaches are being clear on where we are getting it right and wrong, and we have to work hard now to grasp the positive elements of this game to build the belief looking ahead to the last two games, both away from home, in Ireland and Italy.

The biggest positive for me is that we were very dangerous in that game against a very good and experienced French defence. I don’t remember us being that dangerous before. Young Stuart Hogg was outstanding at times, a cut above, and that is providing new confidence through the squad; the feeling that this is the type of cutting edge that we have been crying out for.

I know supporters might get fed up reading me saying that it is coming, that we believe, but ultimately there is nothing else I can say. Again, yesterday, the build-up to that game, the noise from the crowd was just fantastic. The Red Hot Chilli Pipers set the tone for me, getting the stadium rocking, creating an atmosphere that is electric, and the fans kept us going through the game.

And we need to use the frustration that is swirling round now in a positive way, to bring it together to help fuel the belief going forward.

We are desperate to repay the fans, our families for standing by us despite all the sacrifices they have to make for us, the coaches and management team who could not do any more to prepare us and guide us, and build the confidence. It is important that we do not let the fact that we have not won yet in the last three games get to us. Yes, we want to play attractive rugby, but we have to be smarter in where we play, how we attack at times, but I am confident that we are closer and believe that we can go to Ireland and get the win that our work deserves.

This week I am back to Gloucester to prepare for a big Aviva Premiership match with Leicester next Sunday. At the moment I have a big boot on to protect a sore calf. I don’t know how bad it is yet, but I am confident at this stage that I will be fit to face Ireland in a fortnight, and there is no doubt that everyone involved against France just wants to get back out there and be part of that next step over the winning line.

I also wish Rory Lamont all the best. He must be the unluckiest player in world rugby, but he is a great team-mate and we know he will come back stronger.

We are very close. Keep the faith.