A SHOW OF STRENGTH
Standouts in Scots ranks as Townsend mulls over his World Cup options
IN the competitive limbo of pre-World Cup warm-up games, genuine signs from the rugby gods are most indistinguishable from the many false prophets hailed as potential messiahs.
As Gregor Townsend prepares his preliminary squad for a test of fire in Tbilisi, then, he’ll be wary of grasping at random wisps of smoke shaped like hard-and-fast sporting facts.
Already, though, his initial thoughts about the final group heading to Japan will be taking on a more solid form.
And one or two performances at BT Murrayfield on Saturday will certainly have him on the brink of full conversion to a couple of convincing candidates.
If Peter Horne may just have played himself out of the running with one loopy pass inside the opening two minutes, his partner in the centre can possibly start thinking about that team flight.
Chris Harris is a finisher. He showed that with the line he took for Scotland’s second, absolutely crucial try in the comeback victory over France.
Even if he hadn’t scrapped and scragged his way into the visitors’ waking nightmares every time they had the ball, this alone would have been almost enough.
Blade Thomson was singled out for praise by the head coach afterwards, proof enough that he clearly loves the kilted Kiwi in the back row; only the head knock he took might rule him out now.
As Townsend is quick to point out, though, Scotland still have one more fixture to fulfil before the squad is named.
Even after the Scots become the first Tier One side to play Georgia in their own back yard this Saturday, they will then welcome the most ambitious rugby nation in Europe back to Edinburgh for a little loosener six days later — ideal prep before jaunting off to Japan.
In the circumstances, and given the fresh uncertainty over the fitness of potential key performers like Tommy Seymour and Sam Skinner, he’s not likely to start counting his game breakers and opposition crushers until, oh, about halfway through the final pool game…
Informed that assistant coach Mike Blair had let slip that there were two squad places up for grabs, a smiling Townsend asked: ‘Did he? Is that on the coaching panel?
‘This game obviously clarified a few things because players performed well. Now, whether they were going to be closer to going on the plane or not, we’ll see.
‘We’ve still got one more game (before naming the squad). We’ve given ourselves this opportunity to go to Georgia with a strong team.
‘We might have to leave a couple of decisions until after that game.
‘We now have to factor in these injuries, whether they affect our squad selection.
‘And the reality is we will get injuries after the squad is announced. We play Georgia here in two weeks’ time. We play four Test matches in hot conditions out in Japan.
‘So, even if players don’t make that 31, I’m sure a few of them will make it out to Japan.
‘If we have any injury doubts (for Georgia), that’s obviously something we take into consideration — particularly with the travel and the quick turnaround. We need to have a team out there that is fully fit.
‘So there are a couple of players, who weren’t involved today, who we will have to be sure of by Monday if they’re going to be involved in Georgia.
‘But we’re going there with a strong team. You know what we’ve done with the first two games,
we’ve played 30 different players. ‘Blair Kinghorn has actually ended up playing a fair bit of rugby when he’s been on the bench on a few occasions.
‘But that’s what we set out to do. We picked two balanced teams, didn’t play as well in the first game as we could have, played better in the second game.
‘Now we’re going to give players opportunities. Players who deserved them, or who are coming back from injury and we want to see them again.’
It being almost impossible for Scotland to be as bad as they were in Nice seven days earlier, the much-changed starting XV — only Stuart Hogg survived the cull — and most of the replacements did the only other thing they could. And looked a team transformed. Oh, sure, there were some horrible moments. Horne throwing that pass, possibly intended for Hogg, straight into the arms of Damian Penaud on the halfway line with not a defender between him and the opening try.
The French winger touched down after one minute and 50 seconds. As hard as Horne worked until replaced by Rory Hutchinson with 15 minutes remaining, he was never going to make amends for that kind of a howler.
Finn Russell didn’t look too clever in the lead-up to a second
This game clarified a few things because players performed well
French try with just 26 minutes on the clock, dropping a high ball and watching as the visitors switched play for another Penaud try. Fortunately, Finn being Finn, he was good enough to make most people forget about that momentary lapse.
Watching the stand-off, a truly world-class talent, should only be advisable with the help of sedatives; he is so loose, so adventurous, that his team-mates must often be as terrified as the opposition.
Still, his kicking was clever, his sleight-of-hand a constant delight. Whatever other moving parts may change, Scotland’s World Cup will be built around the Racing 92 No10.
As painful as it was for Townsend to see his team trailing 14-3 inside half an hour, the fact that the two French tries were self-inflicted made the scoreline less worrying.
France never really got a sniff after that. And, while the final scoreline wasn’t exactly comfortable, Sean Maitland’s try just before half-time and the Harris touchdown with 57 minutes gone always felt like enough.
As skipper Greig Laidlaw points out, Scotland will beat just about any opponent if they restrict them to 14 points in a match.
Townsend was particularly pleased for Harris, noting: ‘It’s great just to see someone get out there and get a reward for the hard work he’s put in.
‘He is an outstanding defensive player and he’s worked really hard to improve his attacking. His passing, his resetting and his decisions have been very good. He gives 100 per cent every time.
‘So to see him getting the reward of a try at Murrayfield and the crowd erupting, a crucial try for us, there can be no better feeling.
‘Our kick chase was excellent and I know he was involved in a couple of attacks that almost led to tries.
‘He went up the short side a couple of times and we either didn’t complete or the French managed to get back in time.’
The best the fringe players can hope for now is one last chance. In an environment that is likely to be as hostile as anything they’ve ever faced.
‘Georgia are a really good team,’ warned Townsend of a side with dreams of breaking into the Six Nations closed shop.
‘So playing them in Tbilisi, in the national stadium, with 50,000 behind them, is one of the biggest challenges we’ll get. And we can’t wait to see our players get stuck in.’
Among those who still believe they can play their way into the final group, if only they show sufficient flair and fervour in the Dinamo Arena, faith is unlikely to be easily extinguished.
But ask yourself this. How many warm-up fixtures can you remember from previous World Cup years?
Soon, even the worst hellfire endured — and most thrilling highs enjoyed — during this four-match build-up will be nought but distant memories to most.
Even if the effects are guaranteed to linger in the mind of the one man responsible for making those big final decisions.