Gift wrapped for Turner boys
George gives son a birthday to remember
GEORGE TURNER emptied the tank to help claim Calcutta Cup glory against England and admitted a post-match birthday snap with son William was a priceless reward.
The Glasgow Warrior provided a red-letter day out in London for his family on Saturday as they were treated to a box seat to watch Gregor Townsend’s Scotland side seal a historic Six Nations win.
With wife Madeleine and his four-year-old watching, Turner insisted the celebrations for beating their ancient rivals back to back at Twickenham for the first time ever were sweetened by having his nearest and dearest there.
He said: “I’m empty. I put everything into that. It was a massive occasion.
“I played here two years ago with empty stands – it was different gravy with 82,000 in. It was a hell of an experience.
“What a win. I’ve maybe not played in a more emotionally draining game.
“When we did the anthems, we knew there was great travelling support and they were behind us. My wife and my son came down.
“It was actually his birthday and he had an amazing time.
“I put everything out there. I am spent. He was a bit knackered and a bit confused but he had a great time.
“He might remember it, I don’t know, but at least he was here to be part of it. I got a picture of him with the trophy. They let us in with the family and they helped so much.”
A 29-23 triumph in London was delivered in dramatic fashion as Scotland fought back to claim the win with five minutes left on the clock.
But Turner is adamant the display was far from faultless, with room for improvement against Wales on Saturday.
He said: “We talk in general about raising our floor. We raise our worst performances to still good performances – even on Saturday we still had loads of shots left to fire. They managed to disrupt our set-piece so Huw Jones got a line break off the first set-piece, which was really good.
“Then they managed to knock balls out and slow balls down, which was good from them.
“It was an absolute battle out there and towards the end of the first half they edged the physical battle and got back in there. In the second half we came out well and the bench upped the tempo.”
Townsend’s task is now to come up with a plan to beat the Welsh at Murrayfield and win two opening fixtures for the first time.
And Turner is in no doubt about the need to move on from Twickenham glory and tune into the Dragons.
He said: “Our focus is on Wales now. We have to back this up and fix the things that need fixed, show what we can do. We gave everything we could but fell off a few tackles and there were mistakes. In the past we could have lost. But we took chances and got the win.”
SCOTLAND’S Calcutta Cup triumph over England has lifted them over the Auld Enemy and into fifth in the world rankings.
The thrilling 29-23 at Twickenham has sealed their highest-ever spot.
Top 10: 1. Ireland, 2. France 3. New Zealand 4. South Africa 5. Scotland 6. England, 7. Australia 8. Argentina 9. Wales 10. Japan.