Townsend: Our Euro trips could be off the cards
Gregor Townsend admits the Six Nations may be cut to size until coronavirus travel restrictions return to normal.
The Scotland head coach fears continental trips to France and Italy could be of f- l imits, leaving just England, Wales and Ireland as opposition.
New Zealand Rugby will launch Super Rugby Aotearoa in mid-June, involving its five franchise teams, and plans to stage its national provincial competition from September offer encouraging signs for resumption of sport.
But Townsend said: “I think you need to have an open mind. The model of New Zealand playing internally and potentially games against Australia could be the model that we have to go to.
“I’m thinking more at international level – Scotland playing England, Wales and Ireland – but it could be narrower than that, with Glasgow and Edinburgh playing against each other.
“I would hope that club and international rugby would be able to return and if the format needs to be narrowed then we just have to adapt.”
The SRU announced this week that Scotland’s summer tour of South Africa and New Zealand had been called off with World Rugby cancelling all July Tests. But Townsend remains hopeful those can be rescheduled as well as the outstanding Six Nations curtain closer against Wales.
He said: “I think everybody is planning to make sure the club competitions and international fixtures we are currently involved in are the ones we come back to.
“Even if the summer tour is postponed or delayed, we still want to play them and get to play our fixture against Wales in the November Tests.
“That might not happen and there are talks around what the alternative may be to keep rugby in a healthy situation.”
Townsend also offered words of encouragement for his Scottish players hoping to be in the frame for British and Irish Lions selection for next year’s tour to South Africa.
He said: “There’s still a lot of rugby to play. A lot of our players put their hands up this year in how they played against tough opposition.
“If our tour goes ahead and our players excel they could still make that Lions tour.”