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Having won their opening game in the Six Nations for five seasons in a row, Scotland’s forlorn grind for relevance has started early this time.

After death in the Eternal City comes the resurrection mission in Auld Reekie.

It’s a dismal reflection on the state of things that Scotland are now looking for yet another “reaction” after yet another defeat.

But that is where they are under an increasingly beleaguered Gregor Townsend and a coaching regime that has been there too long and needs breaking up with new voices being heard.

The players, too, must be boring themselves at this point.

Their coach is under the cosh, but they continue to fail on multiple fronts – attitude, accuracy, mental strength, ruthlessness. They are bobbing along and going nowhere.

As an international rugby nation, the Scots are now deep into their third decade of existential crisis, so you’d think the awfulness of Saturday’s defeat by Italy in Rome would be easier to take.

The ‘proud of the effort’ mantra from Townsend is the biggest red rag to the biggest Scottish bull.

The scale of the failure was epic, not so much because they lost – because this was always going to be a tight game against a fine Italy team – but in the way they lost.

Their lack of aggression and intent from the start, their defensive disorganisation for Italy’s tries, the terrible weaknesses in their lineout (while Italy were nailing most of theirs), the self-harming bouts of indiscipline at critical times, their inability to problem-solve on the move.

Italy were missing some key players. Scotland were missing no-one.

When it came to coaching nous and player execution, Italy had a little too much of both.

They inflicted a soul-destroying defeat on Scotland, but, in many senses, Scotland did it to themselves. A recurring theme, that.

The feeling of fury in the aftermath is unprecedented since Andy Robinson’s team lost to Tonga in 2013 and Matt Williams’ team lost to, well, pretty much everybody in his slapstick years in charge.

A campaign over after just one game? Maybe premature, but you can’t fault anybody for thinking it.

England will expect an angry Scottish reaction on Saturday. Some of the visitors, hard-bitten by recent experience, will know that there’s fire and brimstone coming their way.

The home fans in vast numbers are now dead against Townsend remaining as coach, but come kick-off time in Edinburgh, you won’t know it. The place will be electrified.

Could you discount a Scotland upset? No. Would you bet on it? No, again.

At Murrayfield, the decision-makers are sitting in silence, apparently still confident that improvement will come if they just hold their nerve.

As a reminder, Townsend took over in 2017. He’s nearly 100 games in. This is his ninth Six Nations. Scotland have never contended.

His future is being talked about, but not by the people who might determine it. Not yet.

Townsend picked on form in Rome, but it was a brutal experience for all involved, particularly Jamie Dobie, one of the best Glasgow Warriors players in a stellar season for his club side.

The weather made it a dogfight in the air. Scotland won some battles, but Italy won the war.

Scotland’s victories in the contestable kicking duels led to field position, which they subsequently butchered.

Some of Italy’s wins led to points, particularly when Louis Lynagh out-did Dobie just before the Tommaso Menoncello try and the Italy forwards were way more alert in mopping up in the aftermath.

Would it have been any different had Townsend gone with his established three of Blair Kinghorn, Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe? Unlikely.

It wasn’t a day for Kinghorn’s game – and he hasn’t been playing great in France in any event. Van der Merwe – still fighting to regain form – is vulnerable in the air at the best of times.

These are huge calls for Townsend. Rip it up or keep faith? Van der Merwe has been a wrecking ball to the English, a bogey man they have largely failed to contain.

He has scored seven tries in five games in the Calcutta Cup. The fixture stirs something inside him.

Will Townsend pick on vibes? Will he put the band back together? What, then, about the notion of picking on form? The form guys out wide all season have been Kyle Steyn and Dobie.

Twice in the opening 11 minutes in Rome, Scotland had an attacking lineout in the Italy 22.

On any day, these were glorious chances to build pressure and add points. On a day like Saturday, they were golden opportunities. They lost both lineouts.

Their drill both times was hardly complex. The throw went to the front – the safest option – and Italy were up quicker to steal it. It was the kind of sluggishness that proved so costly.

The rain pelted down, but Italy found a way to deliver a functioning lineout. Scotland toiled miserably.

They were beaten at the front, in the middle and then, in a monsoon, they launched some over the back. No lifter, no jumper, no communication. It was a mess.

And everybody was to blame, not just Ewan Ashman and George Turner.

A change at hooker? If Dave Cherry was to be parachuted in from the second tier of French rugby then it wouldn’t be a huge surprise.

Cherry can throw, but if the whole operation is as hapless again then everybody may as well stay at home. You don’t win Tests with a third-rate lineout.

More changes at lock? Given how passive Scotland were in the beginning, they’d better get more energy in from the start on Saturday.

Gregor Brown to start ahead of Grant Gilchrist and alongside Scott Cummings.

Jamie Ritchie’s brutality at seven instead of Rory Darge. Get some attrition in there. Some belligerence. Some leaders.

Maybe there’s an almighty eruption on the cards on Saturday. An ambush. A smash-and-grab. Maybe a formidable-looking England are about to get run over by wrathful Scots.

It was early in the season that Liverpool supporters noticed a subtle change at the club’s training ground.

Images of the campaign’s key moments could be spotted on a wall while the squad trained, placed there to inspire the players as they looked to retain their Premier League crown.

And with each game that passed, the collection of images grew. First there is a picture of Federico Chiesa celebrating his 88th-minute goal against Bournemouth on the opening day of the Premier League season, a goal that put Liverpool back into the lead after the Cherries had come back from 2-0 down to draw level. Mohamed Salah would score in stoppage time to put the result beyond doubt.

Next to it was placed an image of teenager Rio Ngumoha scoring a dramatic winner in the 100th minute at St James’ Park as Newcastle were beaten 3-2. A week later and Dominik Szoboszlai scored a free-kick in the 83rd minute against Arsenal, and the following weekend Salah scored a 95th-minute penalty at Burnley – a pair of back-to-back 1-0 wins, two more photos on the wall.

After five games, Liverpool had 15 points on the board and a whole set of images for the players to take inspiration from. The Reds were top of the league with a 100% record and favourites to retain their title.

Throw in a 92nd-minute winner against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League – another game in which Liverpool had surrendered a two-goal lead – and from the outside at least, things were looking good for Arne Slot’s side. The Dutchman put his side’s knack of winning games with late goals down to self-belief and fitness.

But the cracks were showing in the goals his team were conceding and now, five months on, there are precious few new images to line the walls of Liverpool’s training ground.

The Reds’ habit of scoring late winners has turned on its head, and it is they who are finding themselves conceding late on. Liverpool are now there for the taking.

In Liverpool’s three league games that followed their golden start, they faced Crystal Palace, Chelsea and Manchester United and conceded winning goals in the 84th minute or later each time.

And when Erling Haaland dispatched his injury-time penalty at Anfield on Sunday, it was the fourth time that Liverpool had conceded an injury-time winner in the league this season. No team in a single Premier League campaign has ever conceded more.

Only three teams (Burnley, Leeds and Newcastle) have conceded more goals in the final 10 minutes plus injury time of games than Liverpool (10) this season and no team has lost more points than Liverpool (eight) from those goals.

On occasions this season, Virgil van Dijk has used the word “sloppy” to describe Liverpool’s struggles.

After a 1-1 draw against Burnley in January, the Liverpool captain said: “After 60 minutes, we started to become sloppy and it’s not the first time. We have to address that.”

A few days later in Milan, that quote was put to left-back Milos Kerkez, who told BBC Sport that he agreed with Van Dijk’s assessment.

“After 60-70 [minutes] we always lose focus and lose some tactical discipline. I don’t know, we get tired, I am not sure whatever it is, but I agree with that.”

One of the big reasons Slot was brought in to succeed Jurgen Klopp was his impressive ability to keep his players fit. Of the shortlisted managers, only Ruben Amorim boasted a better record.

The Dutchman opted for a style of training that was less intense than what players may have been used to.

Slot had worked at Feyenoord with Ruben Peeters who followed him to Liverpool as the first team’s lead performance coach. The pair tailored training to specific players, altering the intensity based on Liverpool’s schedule and demands of upcoming games.

Sessions became longer but less intense and, on match days, Slot’s Liverpool played less intensely out of possession than Klopp’s teams did.

All of these factors, built upon a squad that was conditioned to play under Klopp, combined to leave them remarkably injury-free last season, resulting in Liverpool being crowned Premier League champions.

They have not been so fortunate this season.

Liverpool have looked to break teams down by initially committing bodies to the box, an approach that has left them vulnerable to counter-attacks.

Teams have deliberately looked to play long against Liverpool, which has also introduced more end-to-end running and duelling. The Liverpool players have physically struggled with this.

Slot has since gone for a more measured and defensively solid set-up which has reduced how end-to-end games are, but Liverpool struggle to score early.

The Premier League is home to the most sprints and high-intensity runs in Europe. Opponents can afford to minimise how much they run through a season by spending large parts of the game in their pragmatic low blocks.

However, Liverpool’s fans are likely to want to see high-octane games from their side.

With an uptick in soft tissue injuries, there is a worry the training methods and on-field tactics described here have been sub-optimal this season when compared to last season, with Liverpool’s players dropping off in the latter parts of games.

When Van Dijk spoke again on Sunday, the response was telling. Liverpool can’t put a pin on it. As Slot repeatedly says, it’s always a “different goal”.

This time, the cause was one of Liverpool’s most experienced players, goalkeeper Alisson, making a mistake as he fouled Matheus Nunes.

“I think you can’t compare all of the goals. I think maybe you can compare the Palace goal and the Bournemouth goal, but this one you can’t compare with the others. But the fact is that we conceded that late on and I keep saying it but we have to do better in this,” said Van Dijk.

Asked if Liverpool were guilty of being sloppy again, Van Dijk added: “I don’t know in this moment. It’s difficult for me to say that. I don’t have the whole game completely in front of me right now so it’s something we will discuss [on Monday].”

Given Liverpool’s injury crisis, the lack of depth on the bench is playing a part too. Manchester City were able to bring on Rayan Cherki who influenced the dynamic of Pep Guardiola’s attack, while Slot’s first substitution was Curtis Jones for Cody Gakpo in the 85th minute, before throwing on Chiesa in injury-time.

And that is precisely where Liverpool are at right now. A side aware of their cracks but unable to paper over them, never mind fix them.

Until Sunday, the Reds were unbeaten in 109 home league games when scoring the opening goal (W98 D11). It was the latest they have ever led in a Premier League game yet gone on to lose, with Bernardo Silva’s 84th-minute equaliser followed by Haaland’s late penalty.

The reality is that Szoboszlai’s stunning free-kick for the opening goal on Sunday should be another image on that wall in Kirkby. In the end, it was worth nothing as Liverpool again failed to see the game out.

In Premier League history, no team has ever scored more injury-time winners than Liverpool. They stand clear with 47, ahead of Arsenal (36) and Manchester United (34).

Liverpool have been renowned for late drama across their illustrious history. Yet in the here and now, they’re making the wrong kind of history.

There are countless problems facing Welsh rugby right now.

So to pick out five areas for the men’s national team to improve before they face Six Nations champions France next weekend is like trying to choose which root vegetable you would use in a sword fight with a samurai.

It is coming up to three years since Wales won a Six Nations match, with Saturday’s 48-7 drubbing by England the latest in a long, ever-increasing line of humiliations.

There are facets of Wales’ game that urgently need addressing before freewheeling France bring their Grand Slam-chasing bandwagon to Cardiff.

The most obvious place to start is defence.

Wales have conceded 248 points – including 34 tries – in Tandy’s first five games in charge.

Those are grim statistics in any context but they will be particularly concerning for Tandy, who was previously defence coach for Scotland and the British and Irish Lions.

“There’s so much to try and fix in a week, and you can’t fix everything,” former Scotland captain John Barclay said on Rugby Special.

“You fix the things that are easiest to fix. First up: tackling. Defence is much easier to do than attack – it’s more of a mindset.

“If you’re Wales defence coach, you’re looking at the lack of intent in the tackle. That’s not a skill decision, that’s a mindset decision.

“How do we get in front of people? How do we slow them down? Let’s fix our defence, let’s be a hard team to play against, let’s not give away easy wins.

Wales were expected to lose against England – and heavily.

Winning at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham is never easy for a visiting team, never mind one in a state of crisis.

However, Wales’ lack of discipline on Saturday made their task infinitely more difficult.

Wales conceded 16 penalties – their highest total in a Test since 2009 – and had four yellow cards, the joint most any team has been shown in a Six Nations match.

Two of those sin bins, for prop Nicky Smith and captain Dewi Lake, came in the opening 18 minutes.

“It’s not possible to play international rugby and concede 11 penalties within the first 20-25 minutes and two yellow cards,” former Wales scrum-half Richie Rees said on the Scrum V podcast.

“We saw the impact that it had towards the tail end of the game, the fatigue of the players, their body language. They were absolutely out on their feet.

“I don’t blame them. Tomos Williams, Louis Rees-Zammit and Aaron Wainwright – they were completely out on their feet. It comes down to the indiscipline, that is something they can control.

“There were complete variants in the type of penalties that they gave away, but it’s something that they simply have to improve, and at least it is something that is in their domain.

Given Wales’ sorry recent form, only a handful of players can be sure of their places in the team to face France on Sunday.

“We have to change some players because some of those players have had plenty of chances, and they’re simply not good enough on the international level,” ex-Wales back-rower Emyr Lewis told BBC Radio Cymru’s Dros Frecwast.

“I don’t like to name individuals but, without a doubt, the balance in midfield isn’t right, so I would definitely bring bigger players in like Owen Watkin. We know how good he is defensively and we have to have a strong defence against France.

“The back row, again no balance there, we have to bring in bigger players especially against such a huge French pack. I’d definitely bring in Ollie Cracknell.

“We have to look at bringing in big, strong, rough players who will give the French pack a challenge.”

Former Wales centre Scott Williams is another who would like to see changes in his old position.

“As a former centre, Ben Thomas didn’t have the best of games if I’m honest,” Williams said on Scrum V.

“Eddie James can be a real weapon for us, he’s a massive guy, but I looked at the stats and he had three carries.

“I know that’s not all on him, that’s the way the game went. But he’s a 12 in my eyes. He needs to get on the ball, needs to get Wales over the gain line. He’s 108 kilos, or whatever he is, he’s hard to stop.

“I’d like to see Eddie James at 12. He needs to be at 12. Whether Ben Thomas goes 13 or whatever, I just think he’s a little bit lost there.”

Rees also wants to see bigger, more physically imposing players selected.

“For me you need [wing or centre] Mason Grady and [prop] Rhys Carre on the field,” he said on the same podcast.

Wales did not get much of a chance to show their attacking threat against England because they spent most of the match defending.

On the rare occasions they did have the ball, Wales’ lineout malfunctioned and the backs did not click into gear.

“I couldn’t see an identity with Wales and we didn’t do the simple things right,” former Wales and Lions wing Alex Cuthbert told the Rugby Union Weekly podcast.

“Lineouts were a problem all game. Their skills came under pressure and they made errors. That’s what happens when you can’t match up physically and, right now, we just don’t have those players.

“Even when we scored it was just one way. It was slow, lethargic and we looked like we were lacking ideas. That’s what happens when you lose power.

“[Wales attack coach] Matt Sherratt will be very detailed in attack about first plays off lineout and scrum but, when you don’t win the first couple of collisions and you don’t have parity [up front], then there’s nothing you can really do.

The technical side of the game is enough of a concern but, according to former England wing Chris Ashton, Wales’ mauling at Twickenham also exposed some mental flaws.

“It was the easy stuff that let them down,” he said on Rugby Special.

“It’s the easier part of the game to be mentally switched on, to not give penalties away, to not allow England into your 22 and give easy tries away.

“You’d think that’s a side of the game that you can take for granted, that the lads would be switched on, but they weren’t.

“It just goes to show he [Tandy] is trying to put fires out everywhere and sometimes you can lose concentration on what you’re trying to do.

Even if Wales significantly improve all these elements of their play, they still face a daunting task when France visit Principality Stadium.

Les Bleus tore Ireland to shreds in their opening 36-14 win on Thursday, scoring five tries in a devastating attacking display.

If France were able to dismantle Ireland so brutally, it is a frightening prospect to consider what they might do to Wales.

“I’m very worried about Sunday,” former Wales wing Philippa Tuttiett told BBC Sport Wales.

“I hate to say this being Welsh but, as a rugby fan, I’m actually excited to see this France team and the brand of rugby they are playing.

“That loss in the autumn to South Africa seems to have ignited them and, even though they won the Six Nations last year, they seem to have taken their game to another level.