Townsend rings the changes ahead of revenge mission against France
Hogg the sole survivor from the nightmare of Nice as Townsend shuffles his pack for rematch with France
GREGOR Townsend was ready to field a completely new starting XV for the visit of France this weekend until Stuart Hogg persuaded him to keep his name on the teamsheet.
Hogg is the only player to retain his starting place following the 32-3 defeat to Les Bleus in Nice that sent a shuddering jolt through Scotland’s World Cup preparations. John Barclay was also set to be rested until he, too, stated his case for involvement,
although he will start the game at Murrayfield on the bench.
‘It was actually going to be 15 changes at one stage,’ Townsend admitted.
‘The plan over the first two weeks was to play the majority of the squad and put two teams out that we believed were strong enough to play Test matches.
‘Obviously, that wasn’t the case last week. Now it is up to this group of players to rectify that on Saturday.
‘Stuart was looking pretty sharp before he came off and he was very keen to play this weekend. We decided that he could do with another game. John was not going to play this week, but both were already saying to me straight after the game they’d love to play again.
‘We had to wait and see if both of them were fully fit before we could decide.
‘Both trained Tuesday, which was good. They weren’t really meant to do contact but both got stuck in and John has recovered really well from what was a pretty nasty knock on the neck. He will start on the bench.
‘We’ve reflected a lot on the build-up to last weekend’s game — the week’s training, the day itself, what we could have done differently as coaches.
‘It has focused our minds. It was a painful lesson for players and coaches that we have to do much better in the build-up, and we have to deliver a much better performance in the game.
‘We’ve seen how the players have reacted in training and how they’ve reacted in their meetings. Their focus and edge compared to last week has certainly been present in training. ‘It is a different group of players, but they feel as hurt as the team that went out at the weekend did, so we will see a better performance.
‘It has to be a lot better because France are in great shape and they’ve picked a stronger team this weekend.
‘The physical drive is usually led by the players in the front five and the back row, but it has to be right across the team. The players know that and know that is what should happen every time they play for Scotland.
‘Last week was a reminder to us all that if you don’t do that, you are going to come to a big loss. We don’t need another reminder.’
Another defeat just weeks from Scotland’s opening game of the World Cup against Ireland cannot be contemplated.
Already, the narrative of the week has been of those players who have fallen down the selection pecking order. Townsend desperately needs his team to change that. This weekend must be about righting wrongs, penning a new story of optimism.
Townsend paints the picture that wholesale changes were always planned no matter the outcome in Nice. Whether he had planned to reconstruct an entire team is a moot point.
He has returned to the tried, tested and trusted. The back division looks exciting with Finn Russell and Greig Laidlaw back in tandem. Tommy Seymour and Sean Maitland will provide positive thrusts from the wings, while the centre partnership of Chris Harris and Peter Horne, although not first-choice, will have an opportunity to state their cases.
Up front, the experienced WP Nel will help improve the front row alongside Gordon Reid and George Turner in a five that includes Scott Cummings and Sam Skinner. Their relative inexperience will be balanced by the presence of Ryan Wilson and Hamish Watson in the back row.
There, they are joined by Blade Thomson, who makes a belated international bow at No8. Such was the abject performance from Josh Strauss last week that Thomson can all but seal his selection with one above-par performance.
‘Blade could have played for us in games in November as he was in our Autumn Test squad,’ Townsend said. ‘But he got injured playing for Scarlets. We were hoping he would recover and maybe be involved in the Six Nations but he wasn’t ready.
‘He is now and gets his chance. He has lots of similarities to Ryan Wilson, who is in the back row beside him. Ryan has speed in his game, he has excellent line out skills and a skill in attack and an aggressive side.
‘Ryan has more experience at Test match level and I believe they will work well together this weekend. Blade has an edge about him which we have to see this week from all our forwards. In fact, all our team.’