Townsend can still have role to play with Lions

BRITISH & Irish Lions tour manager John Spencer has left the door open for Gregor Townsend to be part of Warren Gatland’s coaching team for next year’s tour to New Zealand. Townsend (below) will leave Glasgow Warriors to take over as Scotland head coach next June, which coincides with the start of the Lions trip. However, provided he reaches an agreement with the SRU to step down from the tour of Australia and Fiji which is being held at the same time, Townsend could still become part of the backroom staff. In a thinly-veiled message to SRU chief executive Mark Dodson, Spencer said: ‘It doesn’t rule him out at all. One of the sensible things about having chief executives as directors (of the Lions) is that there is a certain obligation to contribute to the Lions. We’re not seeking to cause the Unions problems. ‘We work on a mutual basis and that is one of the advantages of the arrangement. He (Townsend) could go but I think that very much depends on Warren Gatland. ‘I have spoken to him about assistant coaches and he hasn’t come to any firm decisions so far. He’s still considering that. ‘The announcement is on December 7 and I think he will be particularly interested in their performances in the autumn internationals.’ Townsend’s Glasgow take on Leinster at Scotstoun tomorrow as they seek a second consecutive Guinness Pro12 victory following last weekend’s 41-5 win over champions Connacht in Galway. Meanwhile, current Scotland head coach Vern Cotter and former Bath head coach Mike Ford are among the leading candidates to replace Toulon head coach Diego Dominguez, who faces the sack.