TITLE AS COACH WOULD BE BIGGER FOR TOWNSEND

GREGOR TOWNSEND insists that winning the Six Nations title as a coach would eclipse anything he achieved as a Scotland player, including lifting the Five Nations championship in 1999. The 82-times-capped former fly-half scored a try in all four matches in that glorious run, including the decisive 36-22 win over France in Paris. But Townsend feels that helping his country achieve their first-ever Six Nations triumph would top everything that’s gone before, and says he gets a greater thrill from coaching than he ever did as a player. ‘Winning the Six Nations would be more impressive and it would mean a huge amount to our nation,’ said the Scotland head coach (right). ‘Look, nobody is going to take away from us winning the last Five Nations but six is bigger than five. ‘I get more of a thrill watching a team working for something and achieving it. The boost we got as a coaching group watching the guys beat Australia in November was a better feeling than I ever had as a player. ‘You get that emotional high with the effort they have put in. Winning the Six Nations would be huge, not just for us, but the whole of Scottish rugby.’ Townsend believes the optimism surrounding Scotland’s chances is valid following a successful 2017. ‘It was a very good year,’ said the former national team captain. ‘Two wins in the summer — including one over Australia and a win over them again in November — coupled with a good performance against New Zealand. ‘There has been a lot of optimism created throughout our game because of that. ‘We have high expectations of our playing group — and we have to because we’re playing the best teams in the world. ‘We took on the No 1 team and the No 3 team in the world in our last two games in New Zealand and Australia in November. ‘England and Ireland are now the second and third-ranked teams in the world, so we want to create a belief within our group that we can win those games, too.’