Townsend hails Scots’ new winning mentality
to the stars who have delivered success for Ireland in the past.
Italy would have offered him a chance to blood some new faces, but COVID-19 denied him that chance.
Throwing a few young guns in against Italy is the easy option. Pitching them in away to France, if the fixture goes ahead, is another kettle of fish.
Twickenham has given Farrell a licence to select at will. Having watched the same players fail in the same way as they did so often in 2019, surely he has realised that picking them again and again will just reap the same results.
Cian Healy’s injury will necessitate change in the frontrow, while Ronan Kelleher is primed to add dynamism and size at hooker and Iain Henderson should return to the second-row where Ultan Dillane and Ryan Baird are dynamic options against Devin Toner’s set-piece assurance.
The back-row remains in need of surgery. Caelan Doris is expected to start, with CJ Stander likely to move to the blindside to accommodate him. Peter O’Mahony remains an enigmatic figure, while Josh van der Flier was once again physically outmatched in Twickenham.
It seems unlikely Farrell will turn to Max Deegan, Jack O’Donoghue or Will Connors at this stage, but they all look capable of performing.
At half-back, the established duo of Murray and Sexton had their latest off day against
England France Scotland Ireland Wales Italy
England. Class may be permanent and they were operating behind a thoroughly beaten pack, but there are only so many poor days any reputation can endure.
The skipper may be safe, but his partner must surely be vulnerable at this stage; particularly if Sexton is struggling to kick the ball. John Cooney deserved a shot two months ago and nothing has changed.
Outside them, them there is not enough creativity to support a struggling Sexton in the absence of Garry Ringrose but with Will Addison’s fitness issues, Joey Carbery out for the season and Simon Zebo out of the picture there is no natural second-playmaker to take over.
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Stuart McCloskey is another who has enjoyed a brilliant season at provincial level and could add something different to the team, but Farrell looks set on his established pairing of Robbie Henshaw and Bundee Aki.
In the back three, Jacob Stockdale looks vulnerable after another horror-show at Twickenham. A period on the sidelines may be just what the Ulster winger needs.
After Paris, Ireland’s next fixture is against Australia in July and it’s expected Farrell will use that tour to blood some new faces.
Why wait? The Championship is still there to be won, but the same old won’t suffice against the best teams.
If Ireland are to start developing again they need fresh voices and new faces to get them moving in the right direction again.
Scotland France 28 17
GREGOR Townsend declared there is more to come from Scotland after seeing his side put the brakes on France’s Grand Slam quest.
Having started their Guinness Six Nations campaign with defeats to Ireland and England, things have taken a turn for the better for the Scots after they followed up victory in Rome with an impressive 28-17 triumph over Les Bleus in Edinburgh yesterday.
Fabien Galthie’s newlook outfit took the lead against the run of play thanks to Damian Penaud’s try.
But Mohamed Haouas’ moment of madness swung the game back in the Scots’ favour, the prop red-carded for landing a punch on Jamie Ritchie’s chin.
Townsend’s men have struggled to make the most of their attacking opportunities this campaign but, with just 14 men to contend with, they finally found their verve.
Sean Maitland crossed in the minutes either side of half-time before Stuart McInally sealed a precious win that ended the visitors’ hopes of a first clean sweep since 2010.
Now the Scotland boss (above) is predicting more of the same when his side travel south for next Saturday’s game in Wales.
“I’ve been really encouraged right the way through the campaign,” Townsend said. “The two weeks before the Ireland game was shown in the way we played, how physical we were and how we were able to play at a real pace and create opportunities.
“Yeah, we didn’t win and left a couple of tries out there, but we’ve been consistent throughout. Even the England game, we were proud of how we came back in that second half.
“We have been in the fight in those two defeats. But these two wins showed the mentality and confidence to get out and find a way to win.
“And there’s more to come, more defensively even though we’re doing that area well.” The sending-off was a turning point but Scotland had been on top from the start.
Adam Hastings continues to grow at standoff in Finn Russell’s absence, Hamish Watson and Ritchie made themselves a menace with their breakdown skulduggery while new skipper Stuart Hogg looks more and more comfortable with the captaincy as the weeks go by.
And Townsend reckons it would be harsh on his team to see their performance diminished by too much focus on Haouas’ act of folly.
He said: “Obviously (the red card) is important but I thought we played better in the first half than the second half.
“We had France on the back foot and we turned them over nine times in the first half in the way we defended, and we had opportunities getting in behind them.”
“I felt France coped with being one man down. It gave them a bit of a kick-start to play more rugby to try and win.”