Telfer backs current side’s chance of grand slam

JIM TELFER believes that the current Scotland squad can end the nation’s 33- year wait for Grand Slam glory.

And if Gregor Townsend’s team does manage to win all five matches in the upcoming Six Nations championship, then he would rank that as a bigger achievement than any of the successes he enjoyed when coaching the side during the 1980s and 1990s.

Telfer was head coach in 1984 when Scotland won their first Grand Slam in 59 years ( and only their second Grand Slam ever), and he was in charge of the team’s formidable forward pack as assistant to Ian McGeechan when they won their third and most recent Grand Slam back in 1990.

“I do believe Scotland can do it this year, but I’ll tell you one thing, Gregor Townsend has a much more difficult job now than Ian and I had,” said Telfer, who also helped McGeechan mastermind the British and Irish Lions’ iconic series victory over South Africa in 1997.

“Don’t dismiss Italy, but England, Wales, Ireland and France are very, very competitive, because they’ve got very good professional set- ups. Wales sometimes have problems with their regions, and they have had a bit of turmoil with a change of coach, but their national side can always rise to the occasion.

“So, I don’t envy the job that Gregor and his coaches face – because there are so many things against us in terms of size, resources and so on. But we do still produce very good players and very good performances, and I would think that this year will be no different. It would take a very good and consistent five games to win a Grand Slam, but we have the opportunity to do it.”

“The game has changed in the sense that the result can hang on a decision by the referee, with a yellow- carding or a sending off,” he continued.

“I’m not saying players shouldn’t be sent off, but circumstances like that, which happen in the blink of an eye, can change the whole story of the game. So, with Scotland, I just hope we get a good rub of the green.”

Telfer is one of several central characters in Scotland’s 1990 Grand Slam success who have contributed to a new documentary which relives the team’s dramatic 13- 7 win over England on the final day of that championship.

The Grudge, the latest in the BT Sport Films series, premieres on BT Sport 1 at 10.15pm on 20 January.