Taylor and Gray ruled out of clash with France

Townsend told how to rebuild the wreckage

SCOTLAND stars Richie Gray and Duncan Taylor have both failed to return to fitness in time for Sunday’s crucial Six Nations clash against France. With Gregor Townsend set to make major changes after the disappointing 34-7 defeat to Wales at the weekend, it was hoped that the experienced pair would be ready to start at Murrayfield. Gray was set to replace Ben Toolis in the second row, while Taylor would likely have taken over from Chris Harris in the centre — but now the Scotland head coach must look elsewhere. Gray is still suffering from a calf injury while Taylor is still going through return-toplay protocols following a bad concussion that ruled him out of the trip to Cardiff. Winger Byron McGuigan is out of the match against France with a calf injury but he would have been replaced anyway by Sean Maitland. Edinburgh tight-head Simon Berghan, who was suspended on Saturday, is available for selection. And his club boss, Richard Cockerill, has backed his prop to do well for the national team, saying: ‘Simon is fresh and hasn’t played since Glasgow at home, so he has had a good rest. ‘He could be straight into the Test arena. He is a lucky boy.’

Humiliated. Confidence crushed. dreams torn to shreds. Scotland’s journey home from Cardiff would have been a painful experience and one that contrasted wildly to that taken just a day before when the team travelled south to the Welsh capital.

Fuelled by the optimism that came from top performances in the autumn test series, Gregor townsend’s troops had more than a slugger’s chance of a first win in the Principality since 2002.

Such dreams were shattered in the opening 15 minutes and the nightmare that played out on Saturday afternoon left everyone in a state of shock.

the physical and mental scars left after the 34-7 hammering will take time to heal. unfortunately, time is not townsend’s friend now. the French travel to murrayfield on Sunday pained by their lastgasp defeat to ireland.

they will be in determined mood, so Scotland’s players must be dragged up off the floor. But just how does a coach rescue a team that has gone from triumph to disaster in such a short period?

‘Gregor doesn’t have to make some big motivational speech ahead of the France game,’ said Connie mclaughlin, one of the country’s leading sports behavioural coaches. ‘all he has to do is to give the players the tools to get over it mentally.

‘i would be using visualising techniques to get into their head space. Get them to run the game coming up against France in their mind. Gregor will want them to get in a frame of mind where they visualise the outcome they are looking for against France, which is obviously a win, and what part they want to play in it.

‘He can go into great detail and ask every player about how they would like to do a particular run, a particular pass.

‘also, how do they want to feel during the match? Get them to imagine the emotion of the occasion. Get taking on France at murrayfield firmly in their mind.

‘ask them all tough questions and expect honest answers. What fears did the game against Wales bring up for them? What can be put in place to alleviate those fears in the French game?

‘Being taken up totally by that France game will also help them blank out any negative thoughts they had about the Wales match. it helps them move on in their own minds and that is very important.’

mclaughlin also believes townsend will spend the run-up to the French game building up the team’s confidence.

‘this was a blip down in Cardiff, he will be telling them, and one defeat does not make them a bad team overnight,’ she said.

‘He will be saying: “the Wales game is in the past. Nobody can change that. What can we do today that will impact on the French match? What can we concentrate on now going forward”?

‘He will be saying they have a chance against France to make up for the Wales game and to use that as motivation.’

it sounds straightforward but the problem facing townsend is that no two players are the same. For one able to put Saturday’s disappointment to the back of his mind, there will be another unable to erase it from his memory.

‘even after Gregor moves onto the playing side, there may still be residual stuff sitting within some guys,’ mclaughlin admitted. ‘Some may be worse affected by the Welsh game than others.

‘Nobody knows his players better than Gregor and it’s the carrot and stick analogy over how he will process individuals on that one.

‘You can motivate the team in a certain way but individuals react differently. He will know who needs an arm round the shoulder and who needs a wee bit of a more stern talking-to about mistakes made.

‘i am sure Gregor will adopt the correct approach to get them right mentally for the France game.’

From a coach’s point of view, the manner of the defeat to Wales will be harder to understand.

the search for answers will go on. Just how did a team that put eight tries past australia implode so dramatically? Why did the team freeze? ‘When you are a team that is developing like Scotland, playing good stuff and getting plaudits, you need to learn to play with expectation,’ said edinburgh coach Richard Cockerill.

‘there was expectation that Scotland would go down there at the weekend and break the Cardiff hoodoo but it was not to be.

‘taking the measured view, Scotland’s problems were not all solved when they beat australia. it is not all doom and gloom when they are beaten in Cardiff.

‘When i was a player, england were beaten badly and had to deal with it, so this is nothing new.

‘Scotland have the strength of character to get over it. Glasgow are top of the Pro14 and the edinburgh boys are strong characters. the only way to get the teething problems out of the way and to answer the critics is for Scotland to do it against France.’

Yet Boroughmuir head coach Peter Wright, the former Scotland and British and irish lions prop, believes the team selection would have taken a mental toll on some players even before kick-off.

‘the players will deny this but i am sure the original selection did not sit well with other players,’ he told

Sportsmail. ‘Byron Mcguigan? He is not international class. Cornell du Preez was the invisible man.

‘Chris Harris was poor. Huw Jones, for all the hype surrounding him, was absolutely dreadful in defence. He just can’t do it.

‘during the build-up and in the game, maybe some people were worrying and looking over their shoulders.

‘my worry was the heads went down and never came up again. that can’t happen against France.’