Six Nations
Scotland legend Rutherford blasts England 'effort' jibes
ESPN Staff
March 23, 2015
Sean O'Brien breaks clear to score a try for Ireland, Scotland v Ireland, Six Nations, Murrayfield, Edinburgh, March 21, 2015
Ireland posted their biggest ever win against Scotland at Murrayfield to secure the Six Nations title © Getty Images
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John Rutherford has rubbished the notion that Scotland could have tried harder against Ireland on the final day of the Six Nations as 'absolute crap'.

Ireland's 40-10 victory at Murrayfield left England needing to beat France by 26 clear points at Twickenham to win their first championship under Stuart Lancaster. Their 55-35 victory was only good enough for a fourth consecutive second-place finish.

England full-back Mike Brown raised doubts about the efforts of Scotland and Italy, who were beaten 61-20 by Wales: "Massive credit to the French for the way they fronted up for this game and for the way they played, compared to a few other countries."

Courtney Lawes expressed his surprise at the margin of victory in Scotland, while Ben Youngs added: "I don't know what happened to Italy or Scotland."

But Rutherford, Scotland's assistant coach when they won the final Five Nations title in 1999, vociferously denies the claims.

"There is no way Scotland weren't trying," he told the Daily Telegraph. "That's just nonsense. Ireland are a bloody good team, without a single weakness. A lot of those Irish players are right at the top of their game at the moment, while a lot of the Scotland players are really inexperienced.

"It is absolute crap to say the Scotland boys gave up. Those players just aren't like that. I did worry about Scotland on Saturday because Ireland are so strong and they knew they had to score a lot of points.

"We are missing key players and we are low on confidence. If anything, it could have been worse."

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