TAYLOR WILL SEE OUT CURRENT DEAL

MATT TAYLOR says he has no intention of turning his back on Scotland to take up a coaching role with Australia. The assistant coach delivered the good news after reports from Down Under revealed he was on a shortlist to replace Stephen Larkham on Michael Cheika’s backroom staff. With SRU director of rugby Scott Johnson taking over a similar role with the Australian Rugby Union after the Six Nations, an official approach was expected. But Aussie-born Taylor has revealed he intends to see out his current contract with Scotland, which runs for another two years. ‘I’m contracted until 2021 and I’m really happy in Scotland,’ said Taylor (right). ‘Scotland has been very good to me. It’s nice to be linked to those types of jobs and be thought of highly, but I’m here for the next couple of years.’ The timing of Taylor’s announcement could not be better for Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend, who was worried that he may be tempted back to the land of his birth. Taylor is Townsend’s most-trusted lieutenant — he brought him to Scotland as his assistant after they were together at Glasgow Warriors — and was prepared to fight tooth and nail to keep him if any official approach for his services from the Australian Rugby Union came in. ‘My focus is on the Ireland game,’ said Taylor, who specialises in defence and will be a vital part of Townsend’s backroom staff with the World Cup coming up later this year. ‘Ireland are very good at the game plan they play in terms of holding on to possession and there are certainly going to be a lot of collisions out there from both sides. ‘Over the years, playing Ireland and some of the teams from Ireland when I was at Glasgow, you end up making a lot of tackles in defence and we know we have to do the same again.’