PAIR OF ACES TO FACE PUMAS

Townsend eager to see playmakers Russell and Hastings work in tandem

NECESSITY has turned out to be the mother of invention for Gregor Townsend. Faced with a lack of centres to pick from against Argentina, the Scotland head coach has elected to throw caution to the wind.

It was only last week that Townsend had mused over moving Finn Russell to inside centre with fellow stand-off Adam Hastings at No 10 in what has the making of a thrilling combination.

Indeed, having two playmakers in the same starting XV could help Townsend’s side find that little bit extra in attack that can turn good teams into great ones.

The seed was first planted in his mind to play them together back in April. Glasgow Warriors may have lost 24-19 to Edinburgh at Murrayfield that day but when Hastings came on to play ten and Russell moved to 12, Townsend liked what he saw.

Since then, Hastings has flourished at Warriors — ironically, due to the departure of Russell to Racing 92 — and the 22-year-old made an impressive international debut at fly-half against Canada on the summer tour.

Hastings now has six caps to his name and came off the bench against Fiji and South Africa when he played ten, with Russell moving to 12 when he has come on.

Now, they will have the opportunity to impress from the start in the fourth and final Test of the autumn.

‘Starting Finn and Adam together has evolved more because of circumstances with other players but we are looking forward to them playing together,’ said Townsend (right).

‘Sam Johnson and Matt Scott were both in the squad, so there are two players who can play 12 that would have got opportunities but are both injured.

‘Peter Horne was involved in all three games so far, so we didn’t want to play him again in terms of giving him a bit of a rest. Alex Dunbar is involved in his third and is on the bench.

‘Given that we have had injuries, and that Finn and Adam have combined well in their games that they have played, we believe it is a good time to see how they go against Argentina.

‘Adam playing so well for Glasgow this year has put him in a position to compete for that ten jersey with Finn. We want to see Adam continue to develop and want to give him opportunities.

‘We believe Finn being outside him will help him. We also believe that combination can put Argentina under a lot of pressure. Both through their passing and kicking and also their running threats.’

Although Hastings starts at ten and Russell at 12, don’t expect them to stay in those positions. Townsend has told the pair to mix things up to keep the Argentine defence on their toes.

‘There will be times in the game that Finn will go to ten and Adam will be at 12,’ he said. ‘In the last ten minutes of the South Africa game, Finn was first receiver a few times and Adam at second receiver, so that will flow naturally. ‘Finn has a natural ability to play 12 as he has played there before. That was his first position for Glasgow Warriors when he got into the team four or so years ago. ‘His experience just outside Adam and communicating with him will be vital. It is a very good-looking combination as both are very good runners and good passers. They might end up looking like they are playing ten and 12 but will move around and interchange during the game.’ It is certainly an exciting selection. The thought of Russell and Hastings bursting through the opposition’s defensive line will go down well with Scotland fans. But are the pair pragmatic enough to play the percentages rather than go for crowd-pleasing attacking moves all the time? Townsend, when asked if he was simply trying to get all his attacking players on the pitch from the start for a gung-ho approach, insisted: ‘No, as I see the role of ten and 12 more to facilitate and work hard to make sure they are in positions to make use of the ball, either from the forwards or directly from nine. ‘Finn and Adam have their own abilities, like running good attacking angles and that’s exciting in the positions they play in. But their first role from an attacking point of view is to make sure they are putting other players in space.’ Townsend has made eight changes to the starting team that lost to South Africa, with the big news in the pack being the return of Josh Strauss.

The big No 8 was one of the fall guys from the defeat to Fiji in Suva last year and hasn’t started a game for his country since.

Strauss gets his chance after decent performances off the bench against Fiji and the Springboks in a back row that includes Jamie Ritchie and Hamish Watson on the flanks.

‘Josh hadn’t started since that game in Fiji but he’d been in the Six Nations training squad and we have been watching him closely,’ said Townsend.

‘Other players had come through and grabbed their opportunities during the Six Nations and the summer tour, but we believe Josh has got the focus right to play well.’

Not featuring is Newcastle Falcons back-row forward Gary Graham, who switched allegiance from Scotland at age-grade level to England under Eddie Jones and back to Scotland again.

Townsend said he was not worried that Jones could still call him back into the England squad for the Six Nations because he had not been capped by Scotland during the autumn Test series.

‘Gary’s committed to us and he’s enjoyed these two weeks and we’ve been impressed with him,’ said Townsend. ‘He now has to go back to Newcastle and over the next six weeks show through his form why he should start or be involved in the 23 against Italy in our first Six Nations game.’