Sportsmail’s top team see reasons to believe
Stunning autumn Tests prove Scots now have what it takes to compete for prizes Strength in depth at Townsend’s disposal has optimism at a record high
In the first of our two-part series, rugby correspondent ROB ROBERTSON sits down with Scotland legends JASON WHITE and ANDY NICOL along with Sportsmail’s Head of Sport LORNE GARDNER to analyse our Six Nations chances. They discuss how Gregor Townsend will cope in his first Six Nations, who should start at scrum-half, how big a setback the front-row injuries could be and whether the optimism following the autumn Test series is justified.
ROB ROBERTSON: Scotland have named a 40-man Six Nations squad, bigger than any other nation. Any surprises in there?
JASON WHITE: Not one. It is a huge squad and builds on the November Tests. John Barclay is quite rightly captain and there is a mixture of youth and experience.
ANDY NICOL: When you are announcing 40 players there is never going to be a shock. Hooker Scott Lawson coming back in at the age of 36 due to injuries surprised me for a second and then I realised it made perfect sense as he is holding down a place with Newcastle Falcons, who are doing well in the English Premiership.
LORNE GARDNER: Everybody you would expect to see is in there. The one concern is the props, but I look through the list of names and I am worryingly optimistic about the strength in depth Scotland have.
NICOL: So am I. There were maybe a few tight calls and, although the Scotland coaching team won’t admit it, they will have gone for a home-based player in these situations. Nick Grigg being in there ahead of Matt Scott is a good example. So is Magnus Bradbury ahead of Josh Strauss, although I am told he is injured. I don’t think Tim Visser has done enough to get back in so Lee Jones is in ahead of him.
GARDNER: If Strauss had been close to fitness I would have liked to have seen him in but apart from that I am happy with the squad selection.
ROBERTSON: Scotland had a terrific autumn Test series. Grounds for optimism heading into the Six Nations? WHITE: Absolutely, but we need to get victories in our first two games, away to Wales and at home to France, to have a chance of challenging for the title. If we do that, we are off and running. We can’t get any further ahead than that, really. NICOL: My optimism is based on that great autumn Test series that you mentioned. It was almost perfect with Stuart Hogg nearly winning the match in the final seconds against the All Blacks.
To beat Samoa playing the way we did, to match the All Blacks and to put 50 points on Australia is as good an autumn Test series as you would want.
GARDNER: I can’t remember being out of my seat so much watching three Scotland games as I was in November. I am struggling to
stop myself getting carried away for the Six Nations after the performances in the autumn Tests.
ROBERTSON: Hate to dampen your optimism, guys but even with three wins last season Scotland still finished down in fourth in the Six Nations table. The last time Scotland won three games in the tournament before that was in 2006.
GARDNER: That past record doesn’t mean a thing. It is where we are now that matters. We are in a stronger position than we have been for many a year.
NICOL: Yes, we had struggled in the Six Nations up until last year. The farewell gift for Vern Cotter was that we won three games. We still finished fourth which highlights how tight the Six Nations is.
WHITE: Scotland played well in winning three games last year. As Lorne says, we go into this Six Nations in good shape and it only matters where we are now.
ROBERTSON: This will be Gregor Townsend’s first time coaching Scotland in the Six Nations. Is he ready? Vern Cotter was whitewashed in his first Six Nations in charge.
NICOL: I went on record to say I thought it was a bit early for Gregor to take over. I also said at the time I hoped we would be saying: “Vern who?” after a while if everything went to plan. That is where we are now.
Gregor inherited a good squad and he was the architect of a lot of that with the Glasgow players he brought through. He has taken over that Scotland team and taken it up to another level. He has exposed more players to international rugby since the summer, some did well, some didn’t. We should be thankful we have the hottest property in terms of a young coach in world rugby.
GARDNER: I would agree with that. He has done a superb job since he took over.
WHITE: Gregor knows what he wants. I played alongside him and so did Andy. I must admit, he was a bit of a joker back then and I wasn’t sure how he would do as a coach but he has been a huge success. He has been ruthless.
For instance, Tim Visser didn’t have his best game last summer against Fiji. We haven’t seen him since. Gregor is not afraid of making the big gutsy calls which is just what we need. Vern Cotter brought it back to basics but Gregor has taken things a step further.
GARDNER: We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Vern Cotter. The work he did was vital for Scottish rugby. Gregor has taken Scotland as an attacking force up to another level. The Scotland team play like Glasgow did when he was there, which is an exciting brand of rugby to watch. I fully applaud what he is doing.
ROBERTSON: Okay, you all feel coaching-wise and tactically he is ready for his first Six Nations but can he cope with the relentless pressure on his shoulders during it? Does he have the mental strength to mix it with the likes of Eddie Jones?
WHITE: The pressure will be on him, there is no doubt. When you are going well it is brilliant. How will he cope when things aren’t going so well? Hopefully that situation will not arise.
NICOL: The Six Nations is the most intense tournament for players and coaches in the world. He has experienced it as a player but not as a head coach, although he was Scotland’s attack coach in the past.
How any coach is judged in the northern hemisphere is how you do in the Six Nations. Andy Robinson had a fantastic record on summer tours and autumn Tests with Scotland beating South Africa, Argentina and Australia away but did nothing in the Six Nations and that is why he lost his job. GARDNER: Gregor (left) will thrive on the pressure. He has got credit in the bank regardless what happens in the Six Nations. I would argue he is not under any great pressure at all because of what he has done
before and because of the positive place we are in with the tournament approaching.
It is interesting to hear Jason say that from knowing him well Gregor is ruthless. It will be interesting to see if he picks players returning from injury such as Greig Laidlaw.
ROBERTSON: Surely that is one of his toughest decisions? If Laidlaw is fit, does he come straight back into the side in place of Ali Price and maybe even be named captain later in the tournament ahead of John Barclay?
NICOL: Barclay deserves to stay captain and Price deserves to stay at nine. Both have earned that right. Greig has to get up to speed and get game time under his belt. He could come into the starting line-up further down the track.
GARDNER: It is a great place for a coach to be in. I can’t remember a Scotland coach who has had the luxury of having such a positive selection headache.
WHITE: I would definitely start Price but look, Six Nations games are going to be tight. What a great man to have to bring on in the shape of Laidlaw to close out a match or win a match with goal kicking. That is a real asset for Scotland.
GARDNER: That is a good point. Eddie Jones always says the bench is crucial to winning matches. The finishers, as he likes to call them, have a real role to play. We can possibly look at our bench like that now which is something we maybe couldn’t do in the past. I would certainly play Price from the start and bring Laidlaw on for that reason. ROBERTSON: How big a problem do we have at prop due to injuries? WHITE: It is a concern. But we had worries over Jamie Bhatti and Darryl Marfo who were uncapped going into the autumn Tests and did well. The Six Nations is an opportunity for someone. Could it be Murray McCallum, although I think he is more in there for experience. Or D’Arcy Rae?
NICOL: There was a freak injury with Zander Fagerson dropping a bench on his foot in the gym. He was a 75-minute man for Scotland who will be a huge loss. Gregor said he had four missed calls from Doctor James Robson when it happened, which is never a good thing.
GARDNER: It is unusual for a prop to play 80 minutes so there is every chance that Rae or McCallum have to come on at some point. But as Jason said, we were concerned ahead of the autumn Test series and we saw Bhatti and Marfo come through.
ROBERTSON: But does the lack of experienced props not put a lot of pressure on Stuart McInally at hooker?
WHITE: He can cope. This has been his first run of games and he has been superb. Richard Cockerill has given him a bit of a hard edge this season. He was co-captain with Grant Gilchrist last year at Edinburgh but that didn’t work and he had that taken off him.
When Magnus Bradbury lost the role, he has been back as captain at times over the last few weeks and that has helped his confidence.
NICOL: I have always been a great fan of Stuart as a rugby player, converting as he did successfully to hooker from the back row. Because Alasdair Dickinson and WP Nel have been injured for Edinburgh he has had to take on the extra responsibility as the senior man in the front row. Hookers nowadays are your fourth back row and he is as mobile as anybody in the back row.
WHITE: He is making breaks like Dane Coles does for New Zealand.
GARDNER: He has a back-row brain. He is very good around the loose and scored two tries against Samoa in the autumn Tests. Cockerill arriving at Edinburgh has helped him a lot.
ROBERTSON: Okay, so you may not have many complaints about the current Scotland squad but are you concerned that Stirling-born Gary Graham is in the England squad and
former Scotland Under-20 player Ben Vellacott has been put on standby by Eddie Jones? Could there be a bit of an Eddie Jones factor here? Bringing in both Gary and Ben to mix things up?
WHITE: It is all about choice. Gregor has a choice. The players have a choice. I don’t think Gary is better than John Barclay or Hamish Watson or Ryan Wilson at the moment.
GARDNER: Gary Graham has played just three or four games for Newcastle, I believe, before he was called up by England. To be honest, I would have been surprised to see his name in our squad list, let alone England’s at this stage. I think Jones is at the capers with the Graham selection. I don’t think he has a cat’s chance in hell of playing for England unless there are lots of injuries.
NICOL: Lorne is right. I don’t think if they had even kept their allegiance with Scotland they would have got into Gregor’s 40-man squad.