Maitland’s selection ‘difficult’ for Gregor
GREGOR TOWNSEND agonised for two days before deciding to drop hattrick hero Blair Kinghorn from the side to face Ireland tomorrow.
As Sportsmail revealed yesterday, Sean Maitland comes in to replace Kinghorn despite the Edinburgh wing’s heroic performance in the victory over Italy.
Townsend gave some insight into the team selection process, which was extended into a second meeting with his key backroom staff as he wrestled with the dilemma of who would fill the No 11 jersey.
And it was only late on Wednesday that the vastly-experienced Maitland got the nod.
‘As a coaching group we debated the pros and cons of the selection on the wing between Sean and Blair,’ said Townsend.
‘We all saw the positives of Blair starting and we saw the positives of Sean starting. It was something we discussed for a while.’
Those lengthy discussions meant the players themselves were unaware of the final decision until Wednesday — a day later than normal.
‘It was certainly a more difficult decision than we planned it to be,’ Townsend added.
‘You see Sean would have been starting against Italy with Tommy Seymour if he’d been fit.
‘But Blair’s great performance and his three tries against Italy gave us food for thought and made the final decision on who to pick to start against Ireland tough.
‘It meant that we had an extended discussion that went on into a second day.
‘In the end we believe that Tommy Seymour and Sean on the wings are best equipped for this game.
‘They are both vastly experienced and have been in excellent form for Scotland.
‘Nothing though should take away from Blair’s performance against Italy.
‘To have the three of them available to us, one off the bench, means we’ve got much stronger cover in the back three than ever before.’ Townsend also has key secondrower Jonny Gray back from injury, while hooker Fraser Brown of Glasgow Warriors is named on the bench. However, with WP Nel and Sam Skinner now ruled out with knocks that they picked up last weekend, the Scotland coach admitted that his team must rely on their tried-and-trusted troops more than ever if they are to repeat their 2017 Murrayfield triumph. ‘Most of those players played against Ireland last year and in 2017, so they know what Ireland are capable of and what a good team they are,’ he said. Townsend added: ‘But they also know what we did well in those two games, so to have that level of quality and conversation as you lead into a game is important as is the experience they have when they get on the field.’ Ireland won the Grand Slam last year but head to Edinburgh with their title hopes hanging by a thread. Townsend added: ‘Ireland know that if they do lose this weekend it’s unlikely they are going to win the Six Nations. ‘They will be driven to bounce back straight away after losing to England but we are expecting an excellent Ireland performance going into this game whether they won or lost last weekend and I’m sure that’s what they’re going to bring.
‘We picked up two injuries from last week with WP (Nel) and Sam (Skinner) missing out, — which is disappointing for us and them — but have had a boost with a number of proven Test players returning from injury and available to us this week.
‘To have that calibre of player and experience around the group in the build-up this week, and during a game of such magnitude, is very important,’ he added.
‘Saturday’s game is massive. It’s probably the biggest challenge we’ll face in the Six Nations, given the way Ireland have been playing in the last few years — they are Grand Slam Champions and the number-two team in the world.
‘They’re very well coached, have some outstanding players and will test us in a number of areas — defensively, set-piece, attack and kicking game. It is a challenge that brings an extra edge and focus to training and something our players relish taking on.’
He added: ‘Our players have risen to the challenge of playing New Zealand, England and other world-class teams and they are aware that we must rise once more to produce one of our best-ever performances for 80 minutes.’
THE mood around Carton House this week could best be described as tetchy. This Ireland squad is still clearly hurting from that English beating and Joe Schmidt conceded that yesterday’s training session was the first time that the squad looked back up and running since the harrowing events of last Saturday evening.
Jack Conan is one of five changes — some injury-enforced, some tactical — for tomorrow’s assignment at Murrayfield.
CJ Stander’s facial injury has opened the door for Conan, and the Leinster No8 is determined to seize his chance against the Scots.
‘Everyone has a point to prove whenever you pull on a green jersey and none more so than myself,’ he said.
‘Obviously I’ve limited exposure in it so every time I get it it’s an opportunity to relish and make the most of it. I feel I’m probably more comfortable in blue just because I’ve played more in it. Hopefully there are a lot more opportunities for me starting with this weekend.
‘Physically, I feel fit. I’m not carrying any injuries for the first time in a while so I feel like I’m at the peak of my powers, my body feels fit and ready to go. Once I have that confidence, it’s just about going out and playing.’
Conan did not feature in that 32-20 hammering, but the line of questioning naturally arrives at the fallout from that first-round debacle.
Once again, Ireland failed to hit the ground running and they were ruthlessly exposed by the fired-up visitors.
‘We always go out to try and perform at our best,’ said Conan.
‘Sometimes it just doesn’t happen. It could be an absolute blessing in disguise. It could be a good learning curve for everyone. We know that it was a bit of a shock but we can be better for it and take that for the future. It will definitely stand to us.’
Schmidt said his side were bullied last time out. His pack were ‘manhandled’ by their English opponents. It was a galling critique of a squad that are used to dishing out punishment. Judging by the mood of the players around Ireland’s team base the week, there will be no repeat of the tepid display in Dublin.
‘I suppose to probably spark a reaction in us, no-one likes the thought of being bullied,’ said Conan on Schmidt’s comments.
‘Obviously, at times we might have been physically bested but I think it’s the word that’s going to stick in everyone’s head this weekend and we’re just going to make sure it doesn’t happen again.’
Conan is part of a beefed-up pack with Sean O’Brien (right) adding some muchneeded steel and ballcarrying ballast to a pack that looked one-paced against England. Ireland struggled to get over the gainline last weekend and the 26-year-old will very much have a remit of punching holes in the Scottish defence. ‘I suppose when you break it all down, rugby’s a simple game,’ he explained. ‘Carrying the ball is one of my best attributes. It’s what I feel I’ve been put into the team to do this weekend, to make sure we are getting over the gainline and making sure we win collisions when we don’t have the ball. I don’t think what I do has to change at all this weekend compared to any other weekend.’ Word on the street is training has been feisty this week and all the signs point towards an emotional backlash tomorrow. ‘There has been a higher intensity and a serious edge to training all week,’ Conan revealed. ‘Physically, I think we’ve got through a lot more work and have done a lot more body-on-body stuff compared to last week where we probably didn’t do as much physical work. I don’t think there’s any hope we’ll be bested in the physical encounters this week. We’ve prepped well for it and looking forward to the weekend.’