No time for despondency

By Gordon Bulloch Scotland vice-captain

There's no disguising how disappointed we are after the defeat by Wales, but we knew it was going to be tough with them hitting such a rich vein of form.

Obviously we're trying to implement a new system, with a number of new players, and that showed at times.

They were going through our defence too easily and we were guilty of missing too many first tackles.

But with the world champions coming to our place next weekend, we can't afford to be despondent.

There were some positives to come from the game, not least the fact that we blooded some young guys who will benefit from their first taste of Six Nations rugby.

I thought Chris Cusiter had an excellent game - he provided some crisp service and made some good breaks.

It takes time to find your feet at this level, but I think we'll see before long why Matt Williams has brought these guys in.

I don't want to make excuses, but it's difficult to come into a game like this with a new system and expect it to work straight away - everything we've done so far has been unopposed.

But with the timescale we're working with, it's difficult to organise friendly internationals to work on things.

I think we saw an improvement in the second half, which we drew 7-7, and it will be a case of looking for that improvement to continue over the coming months.

Scotland have maybe been guilty of taking the step towards modernising the game a little later than our rivals and now we're paying for that.

Scotland were run ragged by Wales

Steve Hansen, the Wales coach, has been working towards that style for the last 18 to 24 months, a few years ago it wasn't unknown for Ireland to lose all their games and look at them now, and England have shown how it can be done.

On our day we can challenge these teams, but what we have to be looking for is a continuity of performance and a system that we believe in.

As for next weekend's game, I think the absence of two such massive talismen as Martin Johnson and Jonny Wilkinson could have an impact.

Taking a player like Johnson, who led by example and was such a rock during the World Cup, out of any team is going to hurt.

It's up to us to put pressure on them early on and test the guys that come in.

A win over the world champions would be a massive boost, but it wouldn't mean Matt's job was done.

We'd still be on the bottom rung of the ladder and we know we'll be there for a while.