Why Townsend is Scotland’s Hoddle
MAVERICK COACH WILL TRANSFORM AULD ENEMY
Isee Gregor Townsend as the Glenn Hoddle of British rugby union. Hoddle was an incredibly gifted player who was ahead of his time in many ways.
He then set about transforming the misfiring england team when he became manager. He was the perfect role model as coach because he saw the bigger picture in terms of skills needed and players required to make england a force at international level.
He had the respect of the players for what he’d achieved during his own career and had the added benefit of being english!
He was really making a difference when he fell from grace and had to leave. england have never recovered from his departure.
For Hoddle and england, read Townsend and scotland in terms of what he is trying to achieve with his team. Gregor was a fantastically gifted player who won 82 caps for scotland and two for the Lions. He played rugby in a distinctive style, full of panache and outrageous skill.
Like Hoddle, he was by no means immune to making a few mistakes and got dropped occasionally, but he never compromised his approach to the game. Like Hoddle, he wants his team to play in his image. Those two would be great guests round a dinner table.
Hoddle had the advantage of england’s immense playing resources, which gave him the chance to create a team capable of winning the World Cup, just like eddie Jones has today.
Townsend does not have that luxury, so watching him trying to get something special out of scotland is even more fascinating than watching eddie. It would have been interesting to see what Townsend would have done with the england team if he had taken charge after the mess of the last World Cup.
scotland will always be prone to bad days at the office. They conceded 60 points to england last year under Vern Cotter and we saw a similarly crushing defeat against Wales in Cardiff three weeks ago. But scotland fans have to live with that because the flip side is that, under a coach like Townsend, they will have great days as well.
They’ve already enjoyed a couple since he took over — when they looked capable of taking on the world. The trick is to have more of the latter than the former.
Townsend is a very intelligent guy and vastly experienced. He has natural talent and has done the hard yards — there are very few coaches in the world of his age, 44, with his record.
As a player, he moved from scotland to Northampton early in his career and then enjoyed six years playing for three clubs in France. He worked as a skills coach with scotland before taking over at Glasgow where he had the Warriors playing breathtaking rugby which resulted in a Pro14 title. He should be in his prime as a coach over the next 10 years.
This is just a gut instinct but I suspect he’s a pretty good politician who can fight his corner if and when scotland endure a rough patch. He will not go landing himself in too much trouble with the media.
He’s very good to listen to and measures his words carefully, refusing to go overboard in defeat or victory. He’s very fair and genuine in everything I’ve heard him say. He’s 10 months into the job and will have discovered that coaching a national team is entirely different from running a club side.
The change from a day-to- day rhythm is entirely different and you need to keep focus and not become distracted. If you are not suited to the job, the pressure of heading up a national team is massive but he is in his element.
He knows exactly what he wants from his team, which is more than can be said for many coaches who try to merge styles and pay the cost. If I had one piece of advice it would be ‘stick to your guns’.
There was plenty of debate after the Wales defeat about scotland not having a Plan B but that sort of talk comes from people who have never coached at this level.
Yes, scotland do need little twists and nuances in their high-tempo attacking game and need to execute better and for longer in big games.
scotland’s game is simple — everything must be done at pace with precision, even if that involves tactical kicking and rolling mauls which can give the opposition something different to think about.
speed of thought and deed is what international sport is all about and those qualities are what Townsend was all about as a player. We are now seeing this in his DNA as a coach.
I look forward to his scotland side staying true to that against england on saturday.