Chris Cusiter can still recall vividly the emotions and atmosphere around Murrayfield the last time he was part of a Calcutta Cup victory, but by last night his head was throbbing instead with the memories of the Stadio Flaminio and Scotland's defeat to Italy. The Scotsman's David Ferguson reports.
"The Scotland captain had endured a "very honest" debrief with the Scotland squad that had run much longer than planned, as players and coaches ensured no-one was spared in their appraisal of a demoralising 16-12 defeat in Rome on Saturday. The players eventually emerged for a squad session striving to use the painful images to begin the process of planning for England's visit a week on Saturday and the attempt to salvage something from the 2010 Six Nations.
"I would like to say things have improved with time," said Cusiter, a popular captain within the squad, "but, in truth, nothing has improved in the mind after looking at it all again on the video. That was a very tough debrief, but a very necessary one for everyone.
"Everybody was very open and honest, words were spoken shall we say, but it was needed. Things needed to be said. Ultimately, it's about us needing to get better, recognising where we're going wrong and what we need to improve, and how to do that as quickly as we can."
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