Townsend vows to end Galthie’s Grand Slam dream
Coaches renew rivalry from their playing days Scots prepare to combat French aerial onslaught
From 2001 to 2003, Gregor Townsend and Fabien Galthie butted heads for their countries four times – and the Frenchman won all four.
For the majority of that period, Townsend was plying his trade for a succession of French clubs in Brive, Castres and then Montpellier, so the Scotland and France head coaches are not just old sparring partners from their Test days, but also the veterans of numerous clashes in domestic rugby.
The two even played alongside each other once at the tail end of the Frenchman’s career. “I was his halfback partner for his last-ever game of rugby, the French Baa-baas against Australia,” Townsend revealed. “I blame the scrum-half’s passing for us losing. Or maybe the preparation – the French Baa-baas’ preparation was maybe not the most professional outfit back then.”
But if Galthie’s swansong was a haphazard affair, when the scrumhalf was across the whitewash, whether it was for Colomiers, Stade Francais or France, he was usually all business. That hard edge Townsend detected during their playing careers is still there and will be deployed on France’s behalf as Galthie chases a Grand Slam in his first season as head coach.
“When I played against Fabien, he was a tough competitor,” Townsend said. “I remember a quarter-final for Castres against Colomiers and they had a really good team. Fabien is a really lovely guy off the field but on it he’s a real competitor, and I’m sure he coaches that way, too. But we’ve kept friends over the years, and I’ve seen him around games when he’s been doing TV commentary. He’s made a big impact on the French team.”
That much is for sure. Whether that impact is sufficient to halt a France run of three consecutive losses at Murrayfield will become clear tomorrow, but given the hardnosed manner in which France won their opening three Six Nations games, Townsend knows that Scotland face an uphill struggle.
Indeed, the Borderer happily concedes that Scotland are the underdogs. But if Townsend knows what to expect from his old adversary, the same is true in reverse. Where Galthie has made just two changes from the side who won in Wales – prop Jefferson Poirot starts in the absence of the injured Cyril Baille, while Damian Penaud is finally fit enough to take up his place on the wing, meaning that Teddy Thomas steps down – Townsend has been equally conservative on selection, tinkering rather than making widespread alterations.
The back line remains unchanged from the side who beat Italy 17-0 in Rome, but there are two changes up front, where Nick Haining comes in at No 8 for Magnus Bradbury, who drops to the bench, and Grant Gilchrist injects some heft and steel into the second row, with Ben Toolis dropping out of the 23 and the versatile Sam Skinner coming on to the bench to cover second row, six and seven.
There are two other changes to the bench, with the uncapped Kyle Steyn coming in to cover outside centre and wing, while Worcester Warriors stand-off Duncan Weir sits on the bench three years after he won the last of his 27 caps as a 74th-minute replacement against Italy.
If the Lazarus-like return of Weir is almost as eye-catching as the revelation that the Glaswegian is still 28-years-young, the selection of Haining at No8 in place of clubmate Bradbury is the most interesting selection. The Australian-born player has enough pace to have played against the Lions as a threequarter, and he also showed a hard edge in Dublin that will be useful against an abrasive back row.
“Nick did a very good job for us in Dublin on his first cap, but we gave him feedback on what more we want from him and for Edinburgh his work rate has gone up in both attack and defence,” Townsend said. “The more he plays, the better he looks, and he keeps being in the right place at the right time. France have kicked a lot in the first two games, so you have a picture of how you expect them to play, and Nick started off as a backline player so is very comfortable in the back field, and that is one strength we believe he can show.”
France are not just kicking more than ever before – they have put boot to ball more than any side in this tournament – under Shaun Edwards they are forcing turnovers through their suffocating defence.
“Galthie’s overall philosophy means you’re going to have less ball than the opposition, but you can get it back through the way you chase kicks and force turnovers,” Townsend said. “No team are as dangerous as the French off turnover ball so we have to be smart in how we play, patient at times, but accurate throughout 80 minutes.”
However, there are nevertheless some basics of French rugby that remain unchanged. Scotland know they will have to physically confront an increasingly confident team. The most clear and obvious danger is up front, where France have steamrollered opposition packs, particularly early on.
“France have always based their game, club and international, on the combat, the fight,” Townsend said. “They see the set-piece and the physical side as keys to victory, and they get a huge amount of momentum and psychological advantage if a scrum goes forward for them. They’ve changed the philosophy on how they play, and are certainly a very different French team than the one we played in Paris 12 months ago.”