Townsend makes 14 changes for French clash
● Scotland coach makes 14 changes after France shocker and pledges improvement
Scotland coach Gregor Townsend insisted he had read none of the scathing criticism aimed at his side after Saturday’s thumping by France in Nice and declared there will be improvement against the same opponents in Saturday’s second World Cup warm-up Test at BT Murrayfield.
Townsend has made 14 changes to the team that started the 32-3 rout by the French, with full-back Stuart Hogg the only survivor, and claimed that the torrent of flak for that dismal display from the media and Scotland supporters had gone unnoticed.
“I haven’t really seen the reaction, so in terms of our reaction, there’s a disappointment and determination that we’ll do better,” said Townsend.
The coach has handed a first cap to Scarlets No 8 Blade Thomson and reunited experienced French-based halfbacks Finn Russell and Greig Laidlaw, who will be captain.
The 24-year-old Glasgow hooker Grant Stewart is in line for a first cap off the bench.
Townsend admitted there had been plenty of self-criticism after preparations for Japan took a knock. He said: “As coaches we look first of all at ourselves and how we got the players in a situation where we weren’t delivering our best performance.
“Attack and defence were disappointing at the weekend. I’m the head coach and I’m in charge of attack, so the responsibility lies with me. I know that [defence coach] Matt [Taylor] is disappointed with how we defended. We’ve put a big emphasis on our defence over
GREGOR TOWNSEND “I’m in charge of attack, so the responsibility lies with me” the last couple of months and we’ve seen big improvements in training. We just didn’t get the transfer into the game.”
John Barclay is in line to win his 73rd cap off the bench a week after he was the victim of a reckless charge by France lock Paul Gabrillagues, who was subsequently banned for six weeks.
Barclay has recovered well and Townsend revealed that the initial plan to leave the flanker and Hogg out this weekend was revised when they both pleaded to be given another run-out.
“Initially John wasn’t going to play this week. So it was very similar to Stuart Hogg [who suffered cramp in the second half in Nice],” said Townsend. “John went off earlier than we expected him to. Both him and Stuart were already saying to me straight after the game ‘we’d love to play next week’ and we had to wait and see if both of them were fully fit.
“Both trained yesterday, they weren’t really meant to do contact but both got stuck in, and John has recovered really well from what was a pretty nasty knock to the head.”
Lock Jonny Gray is not involved again this weekend and Townsend explained: “He had a hamstring tweak at training last week but he’s back to running now. That is a bonus. We will see if he can get up to 100 per cent by the end of the week and see if he is an option in Georgia.”
Scotland certainly need to sharpen up their act following the nightmare in Nice and head coach Gregor Townsend is hoping that Blade Thomson’s long-awaited Test debut can play a part in that against France at home on Saturday.
The Auckland-born 28-yearold back-rower, who qualifies for Scotland through his parental grandfather Robert from Wishaw, was in line to feature in last year’s autumn series. However, a bad head injury, coincidentally suffered at BT Murrayfield playing for his club Scarlets against Edinburgh, put his international bow on hold.
Scotland fans will finally get to see him in action as he dons the No 8 jersey in a team that contains 14 changes from the 32-3 Allianz Riviera trouncing.
“He can play blindside and No 8. He has played blindside for Scarlets and he started at No 8 for [his former Super Rugby side] Hurricanes,” explained Townsend.
“He could have played in November, he was in our squad. He played the night before we played Wales [against Edinburgh which fell outside the Test window and excluded Exiles] and got injured.
“We were hoping he would recover quicker from his injury and maybe be involved in the Six Nations squad. He has been with us right from the start of pre-season training and he has improved in terms of his conditioning. We know that through testing and through what we do with GPS.
“He is a very skilful player who can offload the ball well, who can make good decisions over when to pass and when to carry. He is an excellent lineout forward and he has an edge about him which we have to see this week from all our forwards, all our team.”
Asked what kind of loose forward many Scotland fans who haven’t seen him in action can expect on Saturday, Townsend said: “He has lots of similarities to Ryan Wilson. Ryan has speed in his game, he has excellent lineout skills and a skill in attack and an aggressive side.
“They are similar. Blade is a bit taller. Ryan has more experience at Test match level and I believe they will work well together this weekend.”
Scott Cummings gets a second cap after becoming the most recent Scotland internationalist, No 1,105, when he came off the bench in Nice, as Jonny Gray nurses a hamstring injury.
Townsend is also excited about giving Sam Skinner, the versatile Exeter Chiefs backfive player, a leading role in what will be his sixth cap.
“I see Sam as a second row who can play blindside. He started two Test matches at blindside against South Africa and England, which I think are pretty big opponents to go up against, so he’s had that experience,” said Townsend.
“He’sreallyled wellthisweek in a senior role when he has
“He is an excellent lineout forward and has an edge about him which we have to see from all the team”
only played a handful of games for his country, leading the lineout really well, very accurate, and looking forward to playing.
“His specific job is to lead the lineout and work hard this weekend as a second row.
Second rows tend to have the highest workrate, rucks, hits, tackles made, ball carries.
“So now he’s got that opportunity to be the lineout leader. Before, he’s been alongside Grant Gilchrist and Jonny Gray, who called the lineouts. So now he has that added responsibility he seems to love. He does it well at Exeter.”
Townsend played down any worries about the cramp suffered by full-back and attacking weapon Stuart Hogg in Nice. It is a problem the Exeterbound star suffered during the last World Cup, mystifying the squad medics, but the coach allayed concerns.
“He’s not had them since. He has been in great condition. He has lost weight over the past couple of seasons and he has never been fitter. He looked sharp in [Saturday’s] game. It was the first game of the season, a late kick-off with a really heavy pitch.
“We don’t expect the pitches to be like that in Japan, but if they are at least we’ve had one game and we can have a strategy to make sure that any cramp can be gone by kick-off/ half-time.”
Greig Laidlaw wins his 72nd cap and resumes the captaincy as Stuart Mcinally sits this weekend out . Townsend conceded that the veteran Clermont-auvergne scrum-half ’s influence would have been useful as the wheels came off in Nice. “We wish we had more of a few things last week – physicality, composure – but it was more of an edge that we needed.
“Greig has had a shorter break, but it doesn’t look like he has. He came to Portugal and is training really hard. He is very competitive and he has the opportunity to captain his country and drive the team forward to a much better performance.”