IT’S TIME TO BARE YOUR TEETH
Townsend tells Scots to stake Lions claim by winning in Wales
GREGOR Townsend has urged his Scotland players to prove to Lions head coach Warren Gatland that they have the mental strength to win in Wales this weekend.
As he ponders selection for next summer’s tour of South Africa, Gatland has said he remains concerned about the Scottish team’s ability to pick up victories away from home.
Those very same doubts saw him pick just two Scots for the last Lions tour in 2017.
Now Townsend has told his players they can start staking their claim for Gatland’s squad by winning their Covid-delayed Six Nations clash in Llanelli tomorrow.
‘I’m sure our players will be hugely motivated this weekend,’ said the Scotland head coach. ‘ What better way to get in Warren’s thoughts than go out and put a very good performance against Wales.’
Townsend didn’t agree with Gatland’s view, however, that his team can be mentally fragile. Referring to the defeats to England at Murrayfield and Ireland in
Dublin in the Six Nations earlier this year, he said: ‘All I know is our team and what I see of them. They go through experiences and get stronger from them.
‘We go back three, four months and the most relevant experiences for us are the ones we’ve just had. I saw the performance out in Ireland, which I thought was close to our potential.
‘Half-time against England, I saw a real test of character having played with the wind behind us and been 3-0 down, to then have to go into extreme conditions, get it to 3-3 and have a chance to go to 6-3.
‘That showed the character of our team this season and we haven’t talked about the win in Italy or the win against France. We’ve got to make sure we do that more often.
‘We talked a lot today about our experiences against England, because we didn’t win that game, and the conditions could be similar this weekend. What did we learn that day will help make us ready to win this weekend.
‘We’ll have similar tests in the future and I’m sure Gats will be looking at that this season. It will be this season’s team he’ll be picking from, not past years.’
Stuart Hogg returns to captain the side against Wales, while Townsend has also handed Finn Russell his first Scotland start since the World Cup last year.
The Racing 92 fly-half came off the bench i n the second half of the victory over Georgia at Murray field last Friday. ‘I can’t predict the future with any player and all I can report is that Finn has grown into the squad the longer he has been here,’ said Townsend. ‘It might have been a difficult time for him coming back in after a year, but the way he contributed last week against Georgia and got involved was great and now he is in the starting role.
‘I think Stuart Hogg coming back, too, and bringing energy and bouncing ideas off each other on the field is good. As I said, who knows what will happen with any player in the future, but there is certainly a positive feeling around the group going into this game.’
Hogg and Jonny Gray, who also returns to the side, both missed the victory over Georgia because they were part of the Exeter Chiefs team that won the Premiership play- off final against Wasps. The week before, they won the Heineken Champions Cup with a narrow win over Russell’s Racing 92.
Blair Kinghorn shifts to the wing from full-back to accommodate Hogg and replaces Edinburgh team-mate Duhan van der Merwe, who is among the replacements.
Gray comes into the second row in place of Ben Toolis and Scarlets’ Blade Thomson is selected at No 8 in place of the injured Matt Fagerson and will run out on his club ground in Llanelli. Harlequins scrum-half Scott Steele is likely to make his debut off the bench for Ali Price in the second half.
‘As a group, we are very much looking forward to finally completing our fixture against Wales and returning to play Six Nations rugby again,’ said Townsend (right).
‘ We were highly motivated back in March when the original game was called off and that extra edge has come back into our training and preparations this week.
‘ It’s been great to bring in quality and experience to our starting line-up with players such as Stuart Hogg, Jonny Gray and Finn Russell, who have been involved in some high-level games in recent weeks.
‘We were also encouraged by Blade’s display at the weekend for Scarlets, which is a timely boost given last weekend’s injury to Matt Fagerson.
We are expecting a physical battle against a very good Welsh side. ‘Ultimately, this game provides an opportunity for us to end this extended Six Nations championship on a positive note and then go into the autumn Nations Cup with some added belief in what this group of players can achieve.’ Meanwhile, George North has been axed by Wales for what would have been his 100th international — but skipper Alun Wyn Jones will break the world caps record against Scotland. Winger North, 28, was quiet against France last week and, with Liam Williams back fit, head coach Wayne Pivac has dropped his most experienced back for the Six Nations finale. ‘It was quite an easy call really,’ said Pivac. ‘Not every selection comes off and George didn’t play his best game of rugby. He was the first to say that he wasn’t happy with that performance.’
Winger Louis Rees-Zammit is out with a shin problem, while Nick Tompkins drops out for Owen Watkin at centre.
Gareth Davies replaces the injured Rhys Webb at scrum-half, and Will Rowlands and Tomas Francis come in for Cory Hill and Samson Lee respectively.
Flanker Aaron Wainwright makes way for debutant Shane Lewis-Hughes, who has impressed since his call-up to the squad last week.
Pivac added: ‘Alun Wyn said: “I’ve been waiting 15 years for someone like Shane to come along”. In terms of preparation, Shane is his clone.’
And of 35-year- old Jones, who will surpass All Black great Richie McCaw’s 148 caps, Pivac said: ‘I’ve been around a lot of very good rugby players and I put him right at the top. He’s a tremendous leader and leads by example. When he speaks, everybody listens.’