Townsend orders Scots to keep control

THERE is a fine line in elite sport when it comes to how fired up athletes should be. Too little, and the performance will be lacklustre. Too much, and mindlessness and overeagerness can take over.

It is a line Gregor Townsend knows only too well having been on both sides of it during his time as a player, most notably when he faced England.

“I used to get too pumped up,” recalled Townsend. “I was brought up watching 1990 [Scotland’s Grand Slam victory] and at the same time, I was playing for Scotland Under-18s against England Under-18s and I was far too pumped up.

“I think that carried on a little bit throughout my career. I remember going to Twickenham and being far too motivated for the game.”

As a coach, he has presided over sides who have too got it exactly right, as well as crossing the line into the red zone.

Scotland’s Six Nations fixture against England last year had both. England raced into a 31-0 lead against an under-performing Scotland at Twickenham before the away side were imperious in coming back to take the lead 38-31 only for England to snatch a late draw.

While it made for thrilling viewing, Townsend does not want quite the same level of excitement from his players this weekend.

Tomorrow, England will visit Murrayfield as the Scots aim to win the Calcutta Cup for the third consecutive year. If Townsend’s men manage to complete the hat-trick, it will be the first time in almost 50 years, but to paraphrase the head coach, his side must ensure they keep the heid.

“The first action of that game [against England last year], Sam Johnson flew up wanting to make a big hit and said afterwards that he was just so pumped up to tackle someone,” said Townsend.

“But you can’t do that against top teams. You have to stay within the system, you have to transfer what you’ve worked on during the week on to the pitch.

“It’s important our players are ready for the physical battle but are in control.”

Townsend has made just one change to the side who were defeated by Ireland a week ago, with Magnus Bradbury coming in at No.8 in place of Nick Haining, who drops to the bench.

Bradbury may not be a regular No.8 – he usually plays blindside flanker for Edinburgh – but he has some extremely fond memories to draw upon. Last year, at Twickenham, the 24-yearold scored one of Scotland’s tries, the first time a Scottish No.8 had crossed the try line for nine years. So Townsend is confident he can handle himself tomorrow.

“Magnus has played very well for us in the World Cup and at No.8 against England at Twickenham. He’s worked more with the two back-row colleagues in Jamie [Ritchie] and Hamish [Watson],” said the head coach.

“We trained with Magnus at No.8 for about four or five days leading up to the Ireland game.”

Meanwhile, there are no further developments in the Finn Russell saga, which saw the fly-half leave the squad after breaching team protocols last month.

There have been discussions between the head coach and the Racing 92 player but no sign of him returning.

However, Townsend remains open to Russell re-joining the squad during this tournament, but only on the condition he adheres to the same rules that apply to everyone else.

“I spoke to Finn on Sunday night to let him know that we wouldn’t be making any changes to our squad. I will reassess things after we get through this weekend,” said Townsend.

“Finn will be playing and there will be dialogue after he plays and we’ll see where we are.

“Whoever comes into our squad has to be aligned to what the team stands for and the standards of that team.”