Six Nations
Cusiter: Scotland must start winning
ESPNscrum Staff
February 13, 2012
Scotland's Chris Cusiter gets the ball away, Wales v Scotland, Six Nations, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales, February 12, 2012
Chris Cusiter has called on Scotland to lift their performance against France © Getty Images
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Chris Cusiter, the Scotland scrum-half, hopes that his side can cut through the disappointment of Sunday's loss to Wales and produce an upset against France when the Six Nations resumes.

Scotland slumped to a 27-13 reversal at the Millennium Stadium, having lost out to an inexperienced England at home in round one, leading to further consternation among players and fans alike.

Head coach Andy Robinson confirmed after the match that defence specialist Graham Steadman will leave his role in May, while the knives also appear to be out for attack coach Gregor Townsend. Greig Laidlaw's consolation try in Cardiff was Scotland's first in four games.

While there was a lift in performance from round one, Cusiter knows that an end result has to come if they are to point to real improvement.

"All the games we've been in recently have been fairly even contests, but we have got to start winning," he said. "The boys are all gutted - we should have done better.

"We know we can beat any team we play against, and we were looking really good for a while, but a lapse in concentration and a couple of mistakes off the back of it and all of a sudden the game is almost out of sight.

"It's a harsh lesson to learn, but we have got to put together an 80-minute performance. We've got France next up, and we will look forward to that and try to cut out these errors.

"We will look forward to France. It's a huge game for us. After losing two games it becomes absolutely paramount that we win. We believe we can do it if we put together an 80-minute performance, but if we switch off for a bit then unfortunately in international rugby you are punished."

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