Winning streak over Auld Enemy marks a golden age for head coach Townsend

Scotland boss delighted with four in a row against England

GREGOR TOWNSEND lauded another Scotland victory over England as his side equalled their best run in the fixture for more than half a century. He acknowledged the four-match winning streak, Scotland’s best run of results against England since 1972, could be seen as a golden age in a fixture that England have dominated for so long.

Townsend said: “It probably feels like that for us older people and people who have supported the team for a while.

“This was Rory [Darge]’s first Calcutta Cup and he comes away with a win, and there are other guys who have only been involved in wins.

“It’s a great period because this game means so much more than just a one-off fixture. I’m just so glad we managed to get the win again.”

There was special praise from the Scotland coach for Duhan van der Merwe, who became the first Scot to score a hat-trick in the fixture. He is now just one behind Stuart Hogg’s alltime record of 27.

Townsend said: “He was great. The breakthrough try where he went down the wing made a big difference. The first try was exceptional play from Sione [Tuipulotu] and Huw Jones to keep the ball alive.

“That was the first time we’d had an attacking platform in England’s half, so that was needed.

“The second one, the crowd appreciated it and the third one, Finn [Russell]’s kick, a good bounce, and [for] Duhan to finish was great to see.”

Townsend revealed he was worried the big Edinburgh wing might step into touch as he sprinted clear for his second try.

“I think he was teasing with us because he was very close, and even when he finished his try,” the Scotland coach said.

“He could easily have slowed down and tried to step someone and use his power but he just went for it and that was great.

“There’s risk and reward with that because if you go for it and you’re tackled then you’re in touch but he had enough pace to get there and I’m sure there will be footage of us jumping up and down in the coaches’ box.”

Townsend also knows the threats he has available out wide will worry other teams, which may free up the likes of Russell and Huw Jones.

He said: “The threat we have out wide, with Kyle Steyn too and other guys who have played for us, puts teams under pressure. They can’t just focus on our midfield and there will be space on the field and I’m glad Duhan found it today.”

Townsend also praised the impact of Scotland’s bench to close the game out.

He added: “To score 30 points in this fixture shows what this team is capable of. I thought the bench did really well, but I still felt there were missed opportunities in the final 20 minutes. Perhaps that was because we were ahead on the scoreboard so we looked to relieve pressure and kick, backing our defence. We’ll be working on, if we’re ahead against teams, let’s take the opportunities that are there.

“I’m so proud of the effort. To deny England a bonus point was also good too.

“There is more we have to bring out in the next two fixtures, very tough away games, but we’ll go to Italy with confidence.”

While pleased with the win, there was frustration from the Scotland boss that prop Zander Fagerson was forced off for a head injury assessment (HIA) early on after an alert to his “smart” mouthguard.

In describing the incident as a “normal” tackle, Townsend added: “I think we have to really watch what we’re doing here.

“What we’ve been doing over the last few years is making sure that any symptoms that are seen, a number of people can flag up whether someone goes off for an HIA.

“Zander was taken off for 10 minutes after what looked like a normal tackle but there was a spike alert from the mouthguard.

“We’ve got to watch that because you don’t want to be taking off our best players off the field for 10 minutes if there are no issues around concussion.

“We want to protect our players, that’s for certain, but there’s a bit more work to do before this technology is correct.”

Townsend, who also lost hooker George Turner for a period in the defeat to France for a similar issue, hopes lessons are learned.

“It’s a new thing in the Six Nations and it’s not been used at club level prior to the Six Nations. I’d hope they’d learn from today’s incident and obviously George Turner went off for 10 minutes in the previous game.

“[We need] to make sure it’s as close to accurate as possible, that ‘s what we want.

“We have lots of eyes watching and players are now very good at saying ‘I’ve had a head injury here I have to go off’.

“I think we just need to do a bit more work here before we move on.”

There’s risk and reward with that because if you go for it and you’re tackled then you’re in touch but he had enough pace to get there and I’m sure there will be footage of us jumping up and down in the coaches’ box