Townsend must keep faith with Laidlaw

GREIG LaIDLaW may be out of sight but the experienced scrum-half shouldn’t be out of mind for Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend.

There are already calls from some sections of the Scottish rugby fraternity, especially followers of Glasgow Warriors, for ali Price to take over permanently from Laidlaw in the autumn Tests.

The argument is that Price is much more of a live wire; that Laidlaw is too slow getting the ball away and is only in the Scotland team for his goal-kicking.

There is no denying that aspect of his game was exposed during the British and Irish Lions tour where he failed to provide enough of a spark for the midweek team, but it is not a good enough reason to drop him from Scotland duty. Not yet, anyway.

Price’s supporters point to the way their man controlled play and scored a try during Glasgow’s opening day Pro14 win over Connacht last weekend as further evidence why he should be in possession of the national No9 jersey.

Yet promoting him above Laidlaw now would be folly because, although he has his faults, the man who has dug Scotland out of so many holes in the past still has a lot to give.

Moving from Gloucester to Clermont auvergne — who outbid Toulon and Montpellier — over the summer means most Scotland supporters haven’t been able to gauge his early-season form. Therefore, Laidlaw’s performance in Clermont’s 21-16 win over Toulon at the weekend went under the radar but he is settling in well in the French Top14, arguably the most competitive league in world rugby. at 31, he may not be as quick as he used to be but his brain is still switched on. Kicking-wise, he remains among the best in the business. Who will ever forget the pictures of Laidlaw, arms aloft, putting over late penalties to beat Ireland at home in the last Six Nations. He also remains the best choice for captain. John Barclay did a grand job as skipper in his absence for the last two games of the Six Nations and the three-match summer tour when Laidlaw (pictured) was injured. Now Laidlaw is back fully fit, the sniping against him has to stop and Townsend must keep faith with the man who has served Scotland so well.