Townsend should blood new talent
GREGOR TOWNSEND names his Scotland training squad for the autumn internationals on Wednesday — and it’s the perfect time for him to freshen things up with the 2023 World Cup in mind.
The likes of 35-year-old prop WP Nel and wingers Sean Maitland, 33, and Byron McGuigan, 32, will all be well past their best when the tournament in France comes around.
So, with the first of the four autumn fixtures against Tonga coming up on October 30, Townsend (right) should be bold.
Not only should the head coach call them up, he should play the uncapped Glasgow Warriors quartet of fly-half Ross Thompson, centre Sione Tuipulotu, flanker Rory Darge and winger Rufus McLean, as well as Sale Sharks hooker Ewan Ashman.
Scotland will be without Stuart Hogg, Adam Hastings and Finn Russell for the BT Murrayfield clash with the South Sea Islanders because it falls outside the international release window.
All the more reason, then, to try out new players in a game that even a second-string Scotland side should comfortably win.
Others who remain inexperienced at international level, such as Glasgow winger Kyle Steyn, should also play.
As the national team look to the future, it would also be useful to give flanker Jamie Ritchie a shot as skipper.
That said, Ritchie would need a group of experienced players around him in the team room, and that’s why his Edinburgh team-mate and captain Grant Gilchrist should be included in the squad.
Townsend doesn’t really get many opportunities to experiment at this level, so this is also an ideal opportunity for him to give Blair Kinghorn a run-out at fly-half, provided he is fit.
Russell and Hastings are the nation’s first-choice tens, of course, but why not try Kinghorn there in the meantime? The Edinburgh star started the season at his club ahead of a specialist ten in Jaco van der Walt before injury ruled him out of the last two games.
He is the type of exciting fly-half that fits into the way Townsend wants his team to play.
Kinghorn is also versatile and is equally comfortable at full-back or on the wing, which is vital in the modern international game. Townsend was deprived of the chance to try new tactics or new players when the summer tour matches against Romania and Georgia were called off due to the Covid pandemic.
So he has still to try out a number of players, including Ashman, who had been approached by Eddie Jones to throw his lot in with England.
This Tonga game has given him the perfect opportunity to test the water with these players before Scotland get down to the real business against Australia and world champions South Africa ahead of their final autumn match with Japan.