Price adds to Townsend’s anguish
Townsend’s coaching reputation is at stake as Scotland bid to fight back from Yokohama humiliation
Gregor Townsend’s coaching reputation took a significant knock with the opening defeat to Ireland.
Questions are not only being asked of the players on the pitch but also of the Scotland coach and backroom staff.
Indeed, these next few games could be the making or breaking of Townsend. Will he rise to the challenge, find a winning formula and ensure the Scots bounce back from such a dire defeat? or will the return flight from Japan be one of introspection and soul-searching? Here, Sportsmail takes a look at the key issues Townsend faces.
Why has there been a lack of intensity in Scotland’s play?
Poor preparation. Townsend had the whole summer to prepare his team mentally and physically for the opening game of the World Cup and clearly didn’t get it right. When the curtain opened on the biggest stage of all, they froze. Ireland were calm, tactically more astute and clearly up for the battle. Scotland looked lost.
renowned sports psychologist Damian Hughes, who worked on the mental side of the game with 2003 england World Cup winner Jonny Wilkinson, was available for Scotland players to talk to in the build-up to the World Cup. They weren’t forced to speak to him. It was voluntary. But it is time to make it compulsory to try to get their heads right before the game against Samoa.
Who is taking responsibility for the lacklustre defensive displays?
The buck stops with defence coach Matt Taylor, who is Townsend’s right-hand man. The Australian-born former Scotland A international worked under Townsend at glasgow Warriors and moved with him to Scotland three years ago.
His star was at its height last summer when england head coach eddie Jones had him on his short list to replace Paul gustard and bring him into the english coaching set-up. It has fallen since, with Taylor taking the blame for the World Cup warm-up disaster against France when Scotland lost five tries in a 32-3 drubbing.
After that game, he admitted he had failed to fire up the players defensively. It seems he had not learned his lesson because the same mistake was made against Ireland. That is a cardinal sin.
Has the way the captaincy been handled affected leadership on the pitch?
It could be too many cooks spoil the broth in this department. Scotland had six men — present captain Stuart McInally, Stuart Hogg, grant gilchrist, John Barclay, ryan Wilson and greig Laidlaw— who have led the side in the past.
All are strong characters and all were seen to be pretty vocal during the Irish match. McInally said before the game he was not a shouter out on the park and he seemed to be the quietest of the lot.
Leading by example is no bad thing and a few storming runs against Samoa — like the one he made against england at Twickenham in the last Six Nations to score a try — would help lift his confidence.
McInally was given the captaincy because of the way he helped Scotland regroup and come away with a draw that day and needs to prove his worth by putting in a similar top-class performance against the South Sea Islanders. Few are convinced there is one. The Townsend mantra — and it was still being trotted out even after the Ireland defeat — is that Scotland try to play ‘the fastest rugby in the world’.
As Scotland’s 1990 grand Slam legend Scott Hastings said after the game, that is all well and good if you have the skill set of the All Blacks but Scotland are no All Blacks.
Townsend will argue he is just trying to play to his strengths. With flair players Finn russell and Stuart Hogg, who has a blistering turn of pace, in his team it is important to unleash them in wide, running moves as often as possible. There is still, though, too much pressure and reliance on the likes of russell and Hogg to turn games the way of Scotland with a flash of brilliance. Whether Scotland have the players to stick it up their jumper and go through the forwards is debatable. There is a lack of aggression or an enforcer in the mould of a Jim Hamilton figure to growl at his team-mates and wind up the opposition. It was remarkable to hear Scotland back-row forward ryan Wilson say that Townsend had been ‘measured’ in the way he criticised his men in the dressing room in the defeat to Ireland. Previous head coach Vern Cotter would have gone through them. Townsend is well-spoken and never seems to lose his temper, either when he is in the coaching box or anytime in public. That is just his way but, sometimes, out on the training pitch or in the dressing room, there is a time for a meltdown to give the players a jolt.
With Hamish Watson and Ali Price out of the tournament through injury, what will he do to adjust his plans to cope without those players?
It shouldn’t be too much of a problem losing Price but he has been left with a real headache in not having Watson.
greig Laidlaw was always his first-choice No 9 and was going to start against Ireland and Japan. Townsend always had Price down as an impact sub off the bench. It just means george Horne, who is a very similar player to Price, will be on the bench for these crucial encounters.
The situation over Watson is entirely different as he is a world-class No 7 and hard to replace. Scotland are hinting that Jamie ritchie will be his replacement, or even Barclay, who would move from six to seven.
Both are top players but not as specialised in the position as Watson. Townsend and his forwards coach Danny Wilson will have to work hard creating a new back-row blend without Watson.