It is probably a good measure of how far Wales have fallen that their coach can feel okay about a 16th straight loss and a 10th in a row in the Six Nations.
But interim head coach Matt Sherratt was perhaps right to see the glass maybe a quarter full after the 35-29 defeat to Scotland.
For a quarter of the match at Murrayfield – the final quarter after Scotland had emotionally packed up and gone home – Wales were pretty good.
In that sense, Sherratt was entitled to stress some positives in the way his team fought back late in the game.
"Obviously a real brave effort at the end to come back and get two points, but I’ve seen enough of those games where the reality is they probably thought they’d done enough and maybe dropped off five per cent," said Sherratt.
"What I did feel, though, is there was a hell of a lot of effort from our boys in that last 20 minutes.
"Obviously, it was really nice to get the four-try bonus point, but probably more pleasing for me was seeing the desperation to defend their line.
“It was almost like it was a one-score game with the amount of tackles some of our forwards put in those sets. It was outstanding.
"They’re a good Scotland team, I think we’ve got to remember that. They outscored England three tries to one last time.
“They’re a good side, they’ve been together a long time. They have very distinct style of play, their coaching staff have been together a long time and we ran into them on a good day.
“There was no lack of effort, no lack of passion out there."
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Scotland were in complete control for most of the game, building a 35-8 lead thanks to two tries each from Tom Jordan and Blair Kinghorn, plus another from Darcy Graham.
Wales had responded with a first-half try from Blair Murray but struggled to keep up.
However, in the final quarter, Wales took advantage of Scotland easing off, scoring three late tries through Ben Thomas, Teddy Williams, and Max Llewellyn.
It allowed them to claim two losing bonus points.
Scotland co-captain Finn Russell admitted his team needs to stay focused for the full match.
"I think going into that game, they showed against Ireland that they’re much better than what everyone thought of them, so it’s great for us to have that quick start in the game and then to finish up with the bonus-point win," he said.
"But I think after about 55 minutes, we probably switched off a little bit, so for us, as learning, as a team, we need to stamp that out and make sure we have ruthless 80-minute performances.
"We probably could have scored another one or two tries in the last 15 minutes. We had a lot of pressure down there and just didn’t manage to go over the line.
"We’ll look back at the game next week and probably be frustrated with how we didn’t score more tries in the second half. But overall, it’s a bonus-point win and we’ve got to be happy with that."**
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One big plus point for Wales was the performance of Jarrod Evans, who is relishing his unexpected opportunity to add to his Wales cap haul after admitting he thought his Test career was over.
The 28-year-old Harlequins fly-half made eight appearances for his country between 2018 and 2021 while playing for former club Cardiff.
Evans then spent three and a half years in the international wilderness before being given a surprise recall last month by recently-appointed interim head coach Sherratt, whom he previously worked under at Cardiff.
After coming on as a second-half replacement in the spirited 27-18 defeat by Ireland a fortnight ago, Evans entered the fray for his 10th cap midway through the second half against Scotland at Murrayfield.
“It was definitely something which I didn’t think would happen again,” he said of his recent return.
“You keep putting in the work, putting in the hours and in rugby and sport, it can all change pretty quickly, as we’ve seen.
“Obviously, I’ve had two stints with ‘Jockey’ (Sherratt) and I’m grateful he’s brought me back in.
“The emotions initially were strange because I’d been out of the squad for such a long period, I didn’t think it was going to happen.
“I was just so over the moon that I could help the boys and help the team in some way. I’m just enjoying every moment in camp with all the lads.”
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Wales are on a 16-game run of consecutive Test defeats stretching back to October 2023, while they have had 10 consecutive losses in the Six Nations since defeating Italy in Rome two years ago this month.
Saturday’s defeat means they have lost three in a row against Scotland for the first time in the Six Nations era.
However, Evans feels the performance against Ireland and the final-quarter flourish they produced at Murrayfield should give them heart as they bid to end their demoralising barren streak in their final match of this year’s championship at home to England on Saturday.
“We’re going out there, as we did last week and this week, believing we can win,” said the stand-off, who nailed all three of his conversions against the Scots.
“There’s no reason why we can’t. We were one score away against Ireland (until the Irish scored a 78th-minute penalty), we were one score away this week, so we’re not a million miles off.
“We’re back at the Principality (Stadium), and I think it’s important we just keep believing and being positive. Obviously, it wasn’t the result that we wanted against Scotland, but there was a lot of positives in our last two games, which we can improve on and take into England.”
