ED ABUSE A DISGRACE
GREGOR TOWNSEND believes his loyalty card will pay dividends in Dublin this weekend.
With the exception of Blair Kinghorn’s inclusion for the injured Tommy Seymour, the Scotland boss has named the same side that defeated England ahead of the crunch Six Nations clash against Ireland.
The momentum from that heroic Calcutta Cup success will be harnessed for a showdown at the Aviva Stadium that requires a win to keep our title hopes alive.
And Townsend insists the challenge that awaits in the Irish capital will benefit from a risk and reward scheme that has racked up back-to-back triumphs over France and the Auld Enemy.
He said: “Playing in Dublin against Ireland has to be up there with the biggest tests in world rugby.
“They are a top three team in the world and have a very good home record. There are not many, if any, weaknesses in the team and they get the detail and physicality right. They have a strong kicking game so you have to be at your best to win.
“But the players deserve to be rewarded with team selection as they have played really well in the last two games. They beat the world’s No.2 team with an excellent display.
“Simon Berghan, for example, has really stood up in the last two matches. It is hard to leave Zander Fagerson out of the 23 but Simon deserves another opportunity.
“Cohesion is a big factor as well. This group don’t get a huge number of games to play together and they have improved over the past couple of matches. They have that feeling of knowing what it takes to win. We’d like to think we’ll see another improvement this weekend.”
Townsend ended a 10-year wait for a win over England with that victory at Murrayfield but is convinced it will take a greater effort this Saturday to do a job on Joe Schmidt’s side.
He said: “There are lots of things we could improve on. The pleasing thing against England was the accuracy and intent we played at in the first half and how we defended, we were aggressive there. We were obviously very good around the breakdown.
“It will be much tougher this weekend because of how Ireland are in contact. But there were a few things we didn’t get right. In the second half we did have a couple of opportunities we didn’t take.
“But the commitment and effort in defence over the last five or 10 minutes against England, that’s up there with the best we’ve seen from this team.
“Considering England had a lot of ball and were trying to get the ball to stay in the game or at least get a losing bonus point, our players were still coming off the line, still competing for the ball, making it tough for England to attack.” Scotland have to go back to 2010 in Dublin to find their last Six Nations win outside Rome – and Townsend insists it’s another unwanted statistic he’s aiming to remedy.
He said: “We’re all aware we’ve got a poor record in the Six Nations away from home but some of these players have done well away from home for Scotland.
“In recent times we had a win in Australia and the players have done well away from home with their clubs.
“Most of the players have done very well in Ireland – John Barclay won a semi-final and a final with his club last year in Ireland.
“It’s getting back to knowing what mindset, what preparation, is required to win away from home because it is tougher.
“We’ve had one blip, one experience where we didn’t get it right – we’ve now got a second opportunity to make sure we make the most of it.”
The selection of Edinburgh’s Kinghorn was the one eyebrow raiser but Townsend is adamant playing the youngster on the wing in his first start despite operating as full-back for his club is a measure of trust in a player ready to challenge Stuart Hogg for the No.15 jersey.
He added: “Blair’s a very good full-back but we have one of the best full-backs in the world, if not the best, playing for us. If he’s challenging Stuart that means he’s up there with the best in the world.
“With his pace and his rugby ability, moving to the wing gives us another option in that position.” GREGOR TOWNSEND hopes he never sees a repeat of the shocking abuse England coach Eddie Jones was subjected to.
The rival boss feared for his safety when jostled and taunted by a group of Scots after leaving a train in Manchester the day after his side’s 25-13 Calcutta Cup loss.
Scotland boss Townsend was appalled to see Jones, above, targeted, especially since he’d been so magnanimous in defeat.
Townsend said: “It’s terrible to see anybody getting verbally abused like that, especially when it’s a fellow coach.
“Hopefully that’ll never happen again. No one deserves that. The way England handled the defeat showed they are good losers as well as winners.”