Townsend will play down Maitland’s enforced absence
Gregor Townsend will refuse to use Sean Maitland’s enforced absence as a way of firing up his Scotland side for their Six Nations match against France tomorrow, despite Premiership Rugby’s refusal to release more than five players for the delayed finale in Paris.
Maitland was the notable omission from the team announced by Townsend. The Saracens wing was unable to join up with the national team due to the coach selecting five other England-based options. The presence of captain Stuart Hogg, Exeter lock Sam Skinner and Gloucester centre Chris Harris in the starting line-up, and Harlequins’ Scott Steele and Gloucester’s Alex Craig among the replacements, means there is no room for Maitland.
The loss is a blow, as Maitland is Scotland’s best player under the high ball, an area where France fullback Brice Dulin struggled against Wales last week. Townsend, though, will not use Maitland’s absence to galvanise his squad to defeat France in Paris for the first time in 22 years.
“I don’t think we’ll touch on it,” said Townsend. “There are so many other things we can touch on: our last game together; a chance to finish in our highest position in the Six Nations; a chance to spoil France’s party; a chance to get an away win. I don’t think injustice will come into it. The group feel disappointed for those who couldn’t get selected.”
However, Townsend revealed that Scotland could have been in a far worse position. “It’s much more satisfactory than on Saturday, when none of our players were going to be available, and we were putting together a team of home-based players plus Finn Russell,” he said. “I’m glad we got a resolution that most players would be available.”
The main changes to Townsend’s side come in the second row, where injuries to Jonny Gray and Scott Cummings mean that Grant Gilchrist starts alongside Skinner. Otherwise, apart from injured absentees at hooker and second row, Scotland are close to full strength, with hooker Dave Cherry and scrum-half Scott Steele returning to the bench after making their starting debuts against Italy, So, too, does outside centre Huw Jones.
France B Dulin (La Rochelle); D Penaud (Clermont Auvergne), V Vakatawa (Racing 92), A Vincent (Montpellier), G Fickou (Stade Francais); R Ntamack (Toulouse), A Dupont (Toulouse); C Baille (Toulouse), J Marchand (Toulouse), M Haouas (Montpellier), Bernard Le Roux (Racing 92), S Rebbadj (Toulon), A Jelonch (Castres), C Ollivon (Toulon, capt), G Alldritt (La Rochelle). Replacements C Chat (Racing 92), J-B Gros (Toulon), U Atonio (La Rochelle), R Taofifenua (Toulon), D Cretin (Lyon), B Serin (Toulon), Anthony Bouthier (Montpellier), T Thomas (Racing 92).
Scotland S Hogg (Exeter, capt), D Graham (Edinburgh), C Harris (Gloucester), S Johnson (Glasgow), D Van Der Merwe (Edinburgh), F Russell (Racing 92), A Price (Glasgow), R Sutherland (Edinburgh), G Turner, Z Fagerson (both Glasgow), S Skinner (Exeter), G Gilchrist (Edinburgh), J Ritchie, H Watson (both Edinburgh), M Fagerson (Glasgow). Replacements: D Cherry (Edinburgh), O Kebble (Glasgow), S Berghan (Edinburgh), A Craig (Gloucester), N Haining (Edinburgh), S Steele (Harlequins), A Hastings, H Jones (both Glasgow).
‘I am glad we got a resolution that most players would be available’