Finding an understudy to Russell the main focus for Townsend
SCOTLAND’S summer tour signals the start of the countdown to the 2019 World Cup.
Gregor Townsend and his backroom staff will already have been to Japan, the hotels will be booked, they will have planned training regimes with acclimatisation in mind.
Now they have to decide what players to take. These three matches against Canada, USA and Argentina will be Gregor’s first step on the road to deciding that.
Some may argue the World Cup is still over a year away and it is too early, but I disagree. This is the tour when the fringe players can make their mark.
Do well and they could be with Gregor all the way to the tournament. Do badly and they could play themselves out of contention. For me, the one big question Gregor wants an answer to at the end of this tour is who will be back-up to Finn Russell during the World Cup?
Just now there is no obvious player I would put my hand on my heart and say deserves to be his understudy. That is a big concern.
That is why the two most important players on this Scotland tour are the two uncapped fly-halves Adam Hastings and James Lang, who Gregor is also looking on as a centre.
I am sure he will still give the Harlequins player a go at No 10 as well as 12, as he looks to try and find a reliable replacement playmaker.
As we saw during the Six Nations, Finn on form and Scotland play well. Finn has a bad day and the team does not function. He can’t play every single game in the World Cup and we need to develop our strength in depth in that position.
You won’t ever be replacing like for like as Finn is world class on his day but you need someone who can play as close to his standard as possible.
It won’t be easy to find such a player but, hopefully, things will become a bit more clearer for Gregor after this tour.
Hastings and Lang will be given a chance at some stage in these three games to take the role of playmaker to see how they cope with the responsibility. So will the more experienced Ruaridh Jackson and Peter Horne, who are both on the tour as well.
Basing my thinking of who played in the Six Nations at No10, I would say in Gregor’s mind his back-up to Russell is Peter Horne but I don’t say that with too much confidence.
Don’t get me wrong, he is a good player but has he done enough to say he deserves to be Finn’s back-up from now until the World Cup? In my opinion, no. He might in these next three games but not yet.
Notice I have said who will be back-up to Finn, not who might replace him, because there is no danger of him not being handed the starting jersey for all the big games.
He has been rested by Gregor on this summer tour, which is a good decision as he has challenges coming up.
He is moving from Glasgow Warriors to Racing 92 in Paris and will have a new language to learn and will have to get used to French rugby.
There are some dangers round the corner for him that needs to be managed and he needs supported through them.
He is the best fly-half that Scotland has had since Townsend and a huge asset. He is our out and out our first choice and that will not change.
It is now up to some of the other fly-half contenders to play themselves into the understudy role. If Gregor finds the right man to do that over the next three games, then that will be a huge relief.