Townsenda keen admirer of Guardiola

Gregor Townsend yesterday revealed that Pep Guardiola is his coaching hero.

The Scotland rugby chief admitted his huge admiration for the Manchester City boss as he stepped up preparations for his first home match in charge.

Townsend’s side face Samoa at BT Murrayfeld in next month’s Autumn Test Series opener before facing world champs New Zealand and Australia.

The former Glasgow Warriors coach said Guardiola is a major inspiration in his professional life.

Townsend said: “My aim is to create a Scotland team full of work-rate, energy and speed. Defence and work-rate defines winning teams.

“People watch Guardiola’s attack more than his defence. But at Barcelona he had a rule to win back the ball quickly.

“They started at seven seconds, and then it went down to three seconds. I visited Barcelona a few years back, and they had these drills to regain possession quickly.

“What people see are the great passes and the goals.

“What we don’t see is how they got the ball in the first place. Defence is linked to the attack.”

Townsend, who guided Glasgow to the Pro12 crown three seasons ago, added: “You’ve got to build a game plan that helps you win games – that’s what the players want.

“If the laws of the game and the strength of the personnel meant having to kick and defend, then I would probably – reluctantly – do that.

“But the strength of the Scottish team is work-rate, energy, speed. The laws just now have opened up to help attacks, so that is a massive part of winning games.”

Townsend booted out the commonly-held view that Scotland have failed to compete at the top level because it is such a small nation.

He insisted: “We actually have advantages.

“We can identify our best players easier and get them to a pro team environment quicker.

“We are making that advantage count by encouraging much more attacking rugby at age-group level now.

“Players now look to offload rather than kick – and at a younger level they are not worried about the scoreboard.”