Hate and war? No we’re all friends really says Townsend
● Scotland coach laughs off ‘trash talk’ in build-up to Calcutta Cup
Gregor Townsend has described the increasingly intemperate language being used on both sides in the leadup to Saturday’s Calcutta Cup showdown with England as “part of the fun and spice” of rugby’s oldest rivalry.
A couple of days after Scotland centre Sam Johnson said “no-one likes England… almost to the point of hate”, England flanker Lewis Ludlam returned fire.
The Northampton flanker is one of five changes to Eddie Jones’ side for the game at BT Murrayfield, while Townsend has made only one, bringing Magnus Bradbury back at No 8 with last week’s debutant Nick Haining on the bench.
Ludlam questioned the notion that Celtic nations play with more passion than England. He said: “I disagree actually. We are emotionally there. They hate us and we hate them. There is no difference.
“It’s just another place to go. It’s a battle. It’s going to be a war and it’s something we’re excited for and we’ll be ready for.”
In response, Townsend said: “They’re part of the fun and spice. Players are getting motivated to play a game but they’re really good friends nowadays in international rugby.
“They got on really well after the game, even though they wouldn’t want to admit that going into the game. It should be a great contest for the supporters.”
Scotland lost their Guinness Six Nations opener 19-12 in
Dublin, while England were beaten 24-17 in Paris, heaping pressure on both teams to get their campaigns up and running tomorrow.
Earlier in the week, England coach Jones, who was harassed by three drunken Scots – later fined for public disorder – at a station in Manchester the day after losing in Edinburgh in 2018, described Scotland as a “niggly” side, but Townsend, who said “the media must love his comments”, took that as a compliment.
“I’ve read Eddie’s comments and I thought they were excellent. He’s analysed our game pretty well,” said Townsend.
“He knows it is going to be a fight around the breakdown, around the contact, and at times it will be hugely physical.”
With Storm Ciara set to blow in, conditions are sure to dictate how the game is played.
“They [England] have a quality squad,” said Townsend when analysing their selection, in which Willi Heinz replaces ben young sat sc rum half and Ludlam is in for Courtney Lawes. Prop Mako Vunipola and lock George Kruis are both back with Jonathan Joseph replacing injured centre Manu Tuilagi.
Townsend added: “The bench guys came on and did really well last week. Joseph has played very well against Scotland in the past, Willi Heinz came on and played well last week and so did Lewis Ludlam. I think they’re going to play around the forwards, with a six (forwards)-two (backs) split [on the bench].
“They’ll be expecting to get the heavier forwards on in the second half with the two second rows they’ve got on the bench and three opensides. They think it’s going to be a tighter game and maybe it will be with the weather. But that suggests they’re going to play a tighter game.”
Returning to the theme of the pre-match “trash talk”, Townsend believes it is just part and parcel of the buildup to any Scotland-england encounter.
“I think both sets of players will be motivated, we always are because it’s our biggest rival,” he said.
“Whether it’s population numbers or more success historically, we know that it’s a rival we have to play our best against in order to have a chance, and it’s a game which means so much to our people.”
Eddie Jones reacted to England’s defeat by France last Sunday by making five changes to the starting 15 for this weekend’s trip to Edinburgh – a match Jones’s team almost certainly must win to stay in the hunt for this season’s Six Nations Championship.
As Jones said “we’re not hiding from the fact that we want to take them [Scotland] on up front”, the most eye-catching alteration in a significant shake-up was the demotion of long-serving scrum-half Ben Youngs to the bench, with Willi Heinz starting instead.
Youngs has been easily the most regular occupant of the England No 9 jersey during Jones’s time in charge since the start of 2016, starting 37 of the 44 Tests the Leicester man has played. The last time the 30-year-old Youngs was on the bench without an argument for it being against lower-grade opposition, or a partial rest, was the Grand Slam match in France four years ago.
Jones always rails against what he calls the “stigma” that a place among his “finishers” is any less important than being a starter – even though in the Australian’s own recently-published autobiography he twice referred to stand-off George Ford being “dropped”, for Tests against Ireland and South Africa in 2018.
“Eddie is trying to get the best out of that [scrum-half] position for 80 minutes,” said Owen Farrell, the England captain, yesterday. “In general, [Heinz is] calmer and Ben is fast-paced, in your face and constantly at you. Willi is good at that, too, in defence.” While Jones said of Heinz, the 33-year-old New Zealander who plays for Gloucester: “Great experience, good calm head, makes good decisions, core skills are good. Good team man.”
The other switches from the side beaten 24-17 by the French include Jonathan Joseph in place of the injured Manu Tuilagi at outside centre alongside Ford and Farrell – a trio last seen starting when England lost 25-13 at Murrayfield two years ago. With Jones choosing a split of six forwards and two backs on the bench for only the fifth time in his 51-match tenure, Joseph would be expected to shift to the wing in the event of a backthree injury.
The return of loosehead prop Mako Vunipola after he was rested in Paris had been promised by Jones while, elsewhere in the pack, the back five who finished against the French start, as George Kruis steps up from the bench to resume his club second-row partnership with Maro Itoje, and Northampton’s Lewis Ludlam takes Courtney Lawes’s starting spot at blindside flanker.
Tom Curry stays at No 8 although Ludlam could do duty there if required. Wasps’ Joe Launchbury returns on the bench with Charlie Ewels out of the 23 all together.
Jones also revealed he receives verbal abuse “every day” as he confirmed he would fly home from Scotland with the rest of the England
“What do you reckon when I walk on the street, what happens? Some people say nice things, some people are into you. It happens every day”
EDDIE JONES
squad on Sunday. After the corresponding match in 2018 he took a train to be a guest of Sir Alex Ferguson at a Manchester United v Chelsea football match, and was jostled and sworn at by Scots outside a station in Manchester. Three men from Edinburgh ended up in court and paid fines for public-order offences.
Jones insisted yesterday the incident “wasn’t of any significance at all”, and he quipped: “I have checked the Premier League schedule and I am not going to any games… I am going directly home”.
But he added: “What do you reckon when I walk on the street, what happens? Some people say nice things, some people are into you. It happens every day. If you didn’t want it, you don’t do this job.”
ENGLAND V SCOTLAND Guinness Six Nations Championship Tomorrow, BT Murrayfield. Kick-off 4.45pm. Live on BBC 1