Scotland out to keep their cool in Rome
FOR Scotland, this week is all about keeping their nerve. Head coach Gregor Townsend and his fellow selectors will maintain their composure when they choose the team to play Italy, resisting any urge to make too many changes, and it will then be up to that team to remain level-headed in Saturday’s match itself. If they do that, they will win.
A victory in Rome will neither dispel the clouds that have been hanging over the squad during the Six Nations nor guarantee Townsend’s future in his post for any significant length of time. Beating Italy is something we should expect of a squad of this quality and will therefore not merit extensive celebration.
But it will stabilise a rocky situation, and provide some evidence that, after a traumatic World Cup and two narrow losses in the Championship, Scotland are heading in the right direction. It will also encourage them to believe that they can go on and beat France at home a fortnight later – a result which would be altogether more impressive given the nature of the opposition.
As the results against Ireland and England showed, Scotland are not that far away from being a good side. Much of the focus since those games has been on the glaring mistakes and the inability to score a try in either match, and we are entitled to feel frustrated when world-class players under-perform. But to pick up a bonus point in both matches surely suggests that Townsend’s team are not very far away from putting in a big performance, and that in turn makes it probable that the coach will refrain from making sweeping alterations to his matchday 23.
The only necessary change is at lock, where Jonny Gray has been ruled out of the remaining three games. Scott Cummings started the first two matches with Gray, while
Ben Toolis came off the bench and thus would normally be considered next in line. But Grant Gilchrist was taken off after 50 minutes on Saturday with Edinburgh’s game against Scarlets still very much in the balance, and may well have a chance of leapfrogging his Edinburgh team-mate and going straight into the starting line-up.
Toolis may be faster in the loose, but Gilchrist has greater solidity and experience, so combining him and Cummings would arguably make for a better blend. The picture is complicated, however, by the return to the squad of Sam Skinner, who was kept out of Townsend’s initial squad through injury.
The main argument against Skinner’s inclusion is that he has not played enough rugby recently to be fully match fit, but his ability to play at blindside as well as in the second row gives him an edge. It will be a tough choice for Townsend to make.
Elsewhere, Darcy Graham is up and running again and would surely present Italy with some unfamiliar problems. So, too, would George Horne (inset), who was outstanding for Glasgow against Zebre. Having those two to bring off the bench would both be an ominous sign for Italy and a healthy reminder to Scotland’s starting backs that they must remember how to score tries.