Two of our coaches with the Lions.. now that’s Tandy
Scots duo set to join staff in South Africa
YOU wait 12 years for a Scotland coach on a Lions tour then two end up being involved at the same time.
When boss Warren Gatland names his assistants for this summer’s trip to South Africa today, it’s expected that Gregor Townsend and Steve Tandy will be put in charge of attack and defence respectively.
That will be good news for around a dozen Scotland players who are in the frame for selection for the tour when the 36-man squad is revealed on May 6.
For those Scots hopefuls, it means there’s now two influential voices with firsthand knowledge of what they can add to the squad sitting in the selection meetings.
Scotland have had three or less players in the initial squad for each of the last five tours but a recent run of impressive wins on the road against Wales, England and France has raised hopes of a bumper crop this summer.
Stuart Hogg, Finn Russell and Hamish Watson are Scotland’s leading contenders
BY DAVID BARNES to make the cut after a fine Six Nations campaign.
Rory Sutherland, Fraser Brown, Zander Fagerson, Jonny Gray, Jamie Ritchie, Ali Price, Chris Harris, Duhan van der Merwe and Sean Maitland are also in with a shout.
Not all those names will end up on the trip but more than half a dozen is a reasonable prospect.
While it’s no great surprise with Townsend’s involvement as Gatland’s second in command, Tandy will be seen as more of a left-field call.
The 41-year-old Welshman will be a replacement for Andy Farrell, who is a late call-off after deciding that his priority this summer has to be leading Ireland on their planned tour of the Pacific Isles.
Tandy is a relative newcomer to international rugby after being appointed Scotland’s defence coach in December 2019 – but has made a major impact in a short period of time.
Under his guidance the Scots had the meanest defence during the 2020 Six Nations and the second meanest during the 2021 campaign.
Meanwhile, Scotland women’s team captain Rachel Malcolm has been ruled out of the rest of the Six Nations by injury.
She will be replaced by vice-captain Helen Nelson for Saturday’s game against Italy at Scotstoun.
Blindside flanker Malcolm injured her knee in the first minute of the game against England 10 days ago but played on until half-time.
Evie Gallagher, who made her debut off the bench in the 52-10 defeat, is set to take over in the back-row while Nicola Howat has also been called into the squad.
If Scotland beat Italy they will go through to a third-place play-off the following Saturday against either Ireland and France.
Defeat will consign Scotland to a Wooden Spoon play-off against Wales, who have finished bottom of Pool B after losing to both the French and Irish.