Expectation to underachievement – How Scotland came up short in France

Scotland suffered a demoralising pool-stage exit from the World Cup after being unable to get the big win they needed against Ireland.

Here, the PA news agency looks back at how the tournament unfolded for Gregor Townsend’s side.

Everything seemed possible for the Scots when they first touched down in sun-drenched Nice just over five weeks ago, fresh from an encouraging summer in which they had produced two rousing displays against France and beaten Italy and Georgia to cement their status as the fifth-ranked team in the world. At their welcome ceremony their former player John Jeffrey – in his guise as World Rugby’s vice-chair – told everyone in attendance “this is without doubt the best ever Scotland team to take the field”.

After all the anticipation and pre-tournament optimism, Scotland fell flat in their opener in Marseille, failing to land a meaningful blow as defending champions South Africa stifled the life out of them. Losing 18-3, it was the Scots’ lowest-scoring outing since the opening game of the previous World Cup.

The Scots had a full two weeks to lick their wounds following their demoralising start. With no game on the second weekend of the tournament, the players were given a few days’ downtime with family immediately after the South Africa loss. Even when not in action, however, the Scots’ qualification hopes suffered a further blow as Ireland defeated the Springboks.

One of the most notable stories of that week was hooker Dave Cherry’s withdrawal from the squad after suffering concussion when falling on stairs on the way to his bedroom following a team day off. Cherry, 32, had made his World Cup debut as a substitute against South Africa the previous day. The Edinburgh forward at least had the