Calling the Toon

Warriors coach is ‘ready’ to go up another level in his quest to be the best

GREGOR TOWNSEND is Scotland’s ‘first, true professional rugby coach’ and will leave the country to turn himself into the best Scotland has produced in the pro era, according to his guiding inspiration.

The Glasgow head coach was still hurting as his old friend and now nemesis Pat Lam led Connacht into battle against Leinster at BT Murrayfield in a Guinness Pro12 Final that Townsend (below) had never allowed himself to visualise without his Warriors team.

Despite his side falling short on two trips to Galway and watching their crown head back to the Emerald Isle, they will be back in the hunt next season in what could be Townsend’s last at the helm, according to Rob Moffat.

Townsend has learned from great sporting coaches from Sir Ian McGeechan and Jim Telfer to Rugby League guru Wayne Bennett and football’s Pep Guardiola, but he continues to cite his former Galashiels Academy rugby coach as the greatest inspiration in his career.

Moffat retired on Friday as director of rugby at Merchiston Castle School after a near 40-year career in coaching and has enjoyed watching the same desire to be the best that he witnessed on school playing fields in the 1980s and 90s.

‘I’d never say I always knew he’d one day become a great pro coach, but at the same time it doesn’t surprise me at all,’ said Moffat.

‘I often think I would like to be coaching Gregor now and would probably make a better job, because rugby players are individuals and Gregor epitomised that, and is doing the same as a coach.

‘A lot of people wouldn’t get Gregor, more so now when people try to make all players fit stereotypes. Gregor was always someone that you would want to see play. He had something different, he was always strong for his age, had acceleration and would beat players for fun and you can see in how he coaches he doesn’t want his players to fit moulds. We need that.

‘I watch rugby now and I’m bored with most of it because you know what players are going to do. It’s a classic that he is now coaching Finn Russell, who is probably the closest we’ve had to Gregor in a lot of ways. It’s interesting to see how he handles Finn’s development.’

Townsend played football for Hutchison Vale in Edinburgh as a kid and came through Galashiels Academy just a few years after fellow Hutchison Vale talent John Collins, who went on to be a star in the world of football.

Both shared a searing, almost detached certainty about their future in sport — more difficult for Townsend as rugby was still amateur when he left school.

‘Rugby turned professional at the perfect time for Gregor,’ added Moffat. ‘He was like John in many ways, with that ambition to not just play but be successful at the highest level. He worked with a sprint coach in his sixth year and left Gala for Northampton as Ian McGeechan was turning them into a professional club in all but name.

‘Gregor’s a rugby or sport junkie really; can’t get enough of tactics, styles, ideas, and that rugby intelligence is why he’s well suited to coaching professional rugby, but he also has a steeliness.

‘He’ll not lose sleep over leaving a good player out of a team or releasing a loyal guy at the end of the season, because that’s part of the game. He’s always had that pro mentality of focusing on what’s best for the squad and the club, rather than the individual. ‘That’s why I think he’ll leave Glasgow and coach in a different environment, and not to be selfish, but because he wants the best for “a Scottish coach” — he believes there is no reason a Scottish coach cannot be the best in the world.’