Townsend strikes it lucky as strength in depth gives adequate injury cover
Commentary Allan Massie
Some of his predecessors must be looking at Gregor Townsend with more than a touch of envy. They sometimes struggled to field a XV without at least a couple of players who, whatever their merits , weren’t quite of genuine international class. Now, as we approach the November Tests, Townsend will be without Stuart Hogg, Duncan Taylor, John Barclay, Richie Gray, Mark Bennett, Zander Fagerson and Tim Swinson, all established stars, for the whole month, and Greig Laidlaw, Finn Russell, Sean Maitland and David Denton for the first match against Wales. Yet nobody doubts that there is now sufficient strength in depth to enable him to put out a team capable of winning these matches.
We may still have only two professional clubs, but they are both now strong enough to compete on level terms with any other clubs in the European Champions Cup. They may each this month have won one, lost one, but both defeats, against very strong sides, were close and both matches might easily have gone the other way. This wasn’t the case five or six years ago. Moreover, while Scotland is not, like England and Ireland, in a strong enough position to restrict international selection to home-based players, this relaxed attitude, which has led to players moving to English or French clubs without ending, or interrupting, their international career, has at least meant that there are new opportunities at Glasgow and Edinburgh for their replacements. So Adam Hastings, given the chance of moving out of Finn Russell’s shadow, has come on much faster this autumn than would have been likely if Finn had remained at Scotstoun.
There are other injuries of course – there always are. Magnus Bradbury, who has been in terrific form for Edinburgh, is one. But Townsend is not short of back-row forwards, with the New Zealand – born Blade Thomson now added to the mix, and looking formidably good from what one has seen of him.
One would guess it’s unlikely that anyone will play in all four matches, and certainly not for the full 80 minutes, though, having written that, one wouldn’t really be surprised to find Jonny Gray playing 320 minutes of international rugby in November. Townsend is, however, likely to rotate his players, partly because there is an element of the glorified Trial for the Six Nations in these autumn Tests. That said, one should remember that it is now unusual for front-row forwards to play much more than half a match or starting scrumhalves to be on the field after the hour mark. Gregor will surely be eager to get the Exeter lock, Sam Skinner, on the pitch, given that he is dual-qualified, having played first for Scotland early age-