Scotland stand-off Duncan Weir has rejected the suggestion that Sunday’s 15-22 loss to France at Murrayfield was a reality check for Gregor Townsend’s side.   

With five wins on the bounce behind them, the Scots went into the match with high hopes of turning over arguably the in-form team in world rugby at the moment, but they struggled to impose themselves against France’s huge pack and offered very little in attack, with all 15 of their points coming from penalties kicked by Weir.  

“I don’t think it was a reality check,” said the stand-off. “It was a one score defeat, and the game could have swung either way. I think we did a lot of good things. Our game management was really good at times and it is now just about picking up the little details to take into the finals weekend.”  

Sunday’s defeat means Scotland will almost certainly end up second in Group B of the Autumn Nations Cup, unless France come a cropper against Italy in Paris next Saturday night – which is highly unlikely.  

If they do finish second, they will likely face Ireland in Dublin in the 3rd/4th place play-off on 5th December, although it could be England if they blow-up in their final pool match against Wales – which is also highly unlikely.  

 “It will be a huge opportunity to finish the Autumn Nations Cup on a high,” said Weir. “We’re disappointed with the end result against France but there was a lot of learning in that game for us so hopefully we can put it right in a couple of weeks’ time. It is just about ironing out the creases for the next game.  

Weir has started the last two games at stand-off for Scotland due to the tournament-ending injuries picked by both Finn Russell and Adam Hastings, but he could face a challenge for that No10 jersey ahead of the play-off, with Edinburgh’s Jaco van der Walt set to join the squad when it reconvenes on Thursday.  

Van der Walt – who recently qualified to play for Scotland through the three-year residency rule – has now completed his two-week quarantine requirement after visiting his native South Africa to get married last year.  

“Jaco has done really well for Edinburgh, I know him well from my time there, so it will be great if he joins the squad and we can bounce off each other,” insisted Weir, who moved to Worcester Warriors in 2018, after being deemed surplus to requirements by Richard Cockerill at Edinburgh.  

“I’m good friends with Adam and Finn as well,” he added. “Competition only spurs you on to play your best rugby – and those guys have been really supportive of me. I’m regularly in contact with Finn so it is great for me personally to have their backing.”