Wales hurt at Scotland loss shows progress is being made – James Botham

James Botham insisted the “hurt” felt inside the Wales camp after their late Guinness Six Nations loss to Scotland was a positive reflection on the strides made under Steve Tandy.

Wales led for 75 minutes in Cardiff on Saturday before Scotland – who trailed 20-5 at the start of the second half – stormed back to win 26-23 and keep their title hopes alive.

It was a 14th consecutive Six Nations defeat for Wales, who have now lost six of Tandy’s seven games in charge.

“Emotionally it is tough, but that’s professional sport,” said back-rower Botham.

“We started off really well, that’s what we were aiming to do. The fact that it hurts is probably a good thing and that we were in it until the last minute.

“There’s a lot of positives to take from it because it was definitely one of the best performances we’ve done for a long time.

“It’s all progression, we’ve got two games left and we’ve got to focus on them now.

“Debrief this one and then we’ll go to Ireland raring to go. It’s how we bounce back now.”

Botham had an outstanding match after replacing the injured Taine Plumtree in the early stages of a pulsating contest.

But the Cardiff flanker was helpless as he watched Finn Russell’s restart kick drop over his shoulder and Darcy Graham, who had just come on to the field, react quickest to the loose ball.

The converted try got Scotland back in the game at 23-19 and George Turner’s late score would break Welsh hearts.

Botham said: “That’s international sport. If you look at all the teams everyone’s so good now.

“Switch off for a split second and you’re penalised for it.

“It is gut-wrenching but we’ve got to use that to move forward into the next game.”

After the smallest crowd for a Six Nations game at Principality Stadium against France the previous weekend, the attendance was up nearly 13,000.

The near sell-out crowd of 70,649 produced an electric atmosphere throughout.

Botham said: “It was like when I was a kid watching back in the day. The attendance was there and it was loud.

“That’s what you want and credit to all the fans who came to watch. We definitely did them more proud this week.

“Where we sit in the table we’re not happy being at the bottom, fifth.

“But a lot of work has come through, you’ve seen that, and when we start to win that’s when it will feel satisfying.”