GREGOR GOES FOR G-FORCE
Scotland boss has faith in Gilchrist and Gray pairing for Calcutta clash
They were last seen together in less celebrated times for Gregor Townsend and for Scotland. Jonny Gray and Grant Gilchrist were the starting second rows when Scotland’s 2019 World Cup campaign came to a shuddering halt against Japan in yokohama — a defeat many people feel is the nadir of Townsend’s five-year reign as Scotland head coach.
But Townsend has always backed the pair to deliver in the dark blue and he underlined that faith yesterday by reuniting Gray and Gilchrist to face england in tomorrow’s Calcutta Cup showdown at BT Murrayfield.
Gray and Gilchrist have been picked ahead of Scott Cummings, who drops out of the squad completely following the November Tests, and Sam Skinner, who is on the bench.
It is the return of 64-times capped Gray, who missed the four matches in the autumn through injury and hasn’t played for Scotland since the Ireland game in the 2021 Six Nations, that has given Townsend confidence his team can win enough clean lineout ball to help them win the match.
‘Jonny is obviously one of our most experienced players,’ said the Scotland head coach. ‘he sets the standards with his work-rate, especially defensively, but also his knowledge around the players he is up against at the lineout. It is great to have him there. We have a very competitive group of second rows with a lot of experience, so to get Jonny and Gilco together — for the first time since the World Cup — it will be great to see them go.’
The Scotland head coach said Skinner in particular should be disappointed at being dropped to the bench, but the recent form of the returning Gray, the consistency of 48-times capped Gilchrist and the experience they both have had been too important to ignore.
‘Sam is the player who should be saying he is the most disappointed to miss out on Saturday,’ he said. ‘he played in November in our win over Australia, he played against South Africa. he played in our Six Nations win over France in Paris. It has been a case of Jonny trying to get into this team and now he has, alongside Grant Gilchrist, who has been a key player for us and been outstanding through the Six Nations and into November.
‘We are in a situation when all five second rows, Jamie hodgson too, are available us. I haven’t had Jonny and Grant starting together since the World Cup and they are the most experienced second rows and now get their chance.’
Townsend insists he has not taken a risk in picking Rory Sutherland ahead of Pierre Schoeman at loosehead prop. The British and Irish Lion had been injured earlier in the season and only returned two weeks ago after a three-week suspension after being sent off after just 75 seconds playing for Worcester Warriors against Bath.
Despite Sutherland’s limited game time, Townsend believes the man from hawick showed on the Lions tour to South Africa he can mix it with the best players in the world.
‘Rory played very well at the weekend for Worcester and he played two or three games before November before he had his injury,’ said the Scotland head coach. ‘he has been a key player for us over the last couple of seasons and had that experience in the summer with the Lions will have made him an even better player.
‘he is in great physical shape and was very strong at scrum time at the weekend for Worcester, even although his team was on the back foot. This will be the first time we have Pierre and Rory in the same squad. Pierre has had a good season and made a big impression in the autumn and that makes that position even more competitive, which we need with Jamie Bhatti being out injured.’
Townsend has, for the first time as Scotland head coach, not a single player unavailable who would have come into consideration to start. As well as Sutherland being in the front row, George Turner has been outstanding at hooker for Scotland over the past 12 months, while British and Irish Lion Zander Fagerson keeps getting better and better at tighthead prop.
The experienced Gray and Gilchrist are in the boiler house with Jamie Ritchie and hamish Watson on the flanks either side of No 8 Matt Fagerson.
Stuart hogg at full-back, with Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe on the wings, was a given. The same goes for Ali Price and Finn Russell at nine and ten. The only selection headache was over who to start in the centre as he had so many candidates. In the end he has gone with the tried and trusted formula of Sam Johnson and Chris harris, with no places in the squad for Cameron Redpath or Mark Bennett. London Irish scrumhalf Ben White could make his international debut off the bench.
Townsend, when asked if this was as strong a team he could have hoped for, replied: ‘yes, absolutely. I think most of our players are fit and available, so that is probably a first in all the campaigns I’ve been involved in. To get players back who were not in last year’s Six Nations, or the autumn series is a real boost. And these players are on form, too.’
The forecast for tomorrow at BT Murrayfield is for wind and heavy rain, which was exactly the conditions when england won a scrappy Six Nations game on their last visit to edinburgh.
‘If the weather is as bad as it was two years ago, then it will be a different game of rugby to what we’ve been training for at the start of the week,’ said the Scotland head coach. ‘Let’s hope that the weather doesn’t dictate the standard of rugby.’