Townsend relaxed about ‘Scot’ making his debut for England
Scotland coach Gregor Townsend said there will be no burning sense of frustration when Bath wing Ruaridh Mcconnochie runs out at Twickenham to make his England debut against Wales tomorrow.
The player with a very Scottish name has long been outwith the land of his father’s birth due to his time playing for England Sevens.
“I remember a number of years ago, meeting his dad – who was very Scottish – and he said he had a son called Ruaridh who was playing London Scottish juniors at the time,” said the Scotland coach.
“This must have been before I was at Glasgow. So, he was a name that I looked out for to first of all see him get a Sevens opportunity to play for England, and then get a 15s contract and play really well. “But he can’t be available for us unfortunately.”
Willi Heinz will also make his England debut as vice-captain despite his lack of Test experience. The New Zealand-born 32-year-old has been given the stage to prove he deserves a place at this autumn’s World Cup after being picked as the starting scrum-half for the warm-up Test at Twickenham.
Ben Youngs, England’s first choice, is included on the bench for a game that takes place 24 hours before Eddie Jones finalises his 31-man squad for Japan 2019.
Warrengatland, meanwhile, says that Alun Wyn Jones “deserves the accolades” as he prepares to become Wales’ most capped player. Lock Jones will make his 135th Test-match appearance – 126 for Wales and nine in British and Irish Lions colours – in the warm-up clash. “In the last 12 months, he’s done an outstanding job as captain of the side,” Wales head coach Gatland said. “He is recognised worldwide as one of the best in his position. He thoroughly deserves that.”
Wyn Jones will surpass the record he currently holds jointly with Gethin Jenkins.
Ireland feel so well-drilled into the Joe Schmidt method that, even in the absence of their taskmaster head coach, his plans are fully expected to bear fruit. Schmidt has spent this week in his native New Zealand following a family bereavement and may not take charge of today’s World Cup warm-up match against Italy.
The 53-year-old Ireland boss is due back in Dublin come the weekend, but assistant coach Andy Farrell could well pilot operations in the Aviva Stadium clash with the Azzurri.
If Schmidt does take a back seat on Saturday, back-rower Jordi Murphy sees no reason for Ireland not to get into gear.
“This week, he hasn’t been here and it’s not like we’ve gone back to the drawing board and started trying to recreate everything again,” said Murphy, of Schmidt.
“It’s just been a pretty smooth transition. So the coaches know exactly what Joe wants.
“I’m sure they’ll be in constant contact and we’ll just try to move from there.”