Townsend wants a grand finale
SCOTLAND head coach Gregor Townsend has vowed his team will go out in a blaze of glory against England to make up for their dramatic Six Nations loss to Wales yesterday.
Although they dominated most of the second half at Murrayfield, the Scots couldn’t do enough to beat a Welsh side that is still on course for the Grand Slam.
Townsend believes his men will make the most of their shot at redemption against the English, who could still win the title if Wales lose to Ireland.
‘If we build on that performance against Wales then we can be a match for any team in the world,’ said Townsend, who takes his team to the home of English rugby where Scotland haven’t won since 1983.
‘We know how England are at home,
what a strong team they are, but records are there to be broken and that will be the case if we play like we did today and improve those areas close to the try line.’
Townsend said even with injury doubts over the starting back three of Blair Kinghorn, Darcy Graham and Tommy Seymour, he would not risk rushing full-back Stuart Hogg or winger Sean Maitland back if they were not totally ready.
‘Hoggy is not back to full training following his shoulder injury, so he would have to make some progress over the weekend to come into consideration and we will decide then,’ said the Scotland head coach.
‘Sean Maitland is recovering from his heel injury, so we will see on Monday about him.
‘Tommy, Blair and Darcy all had to come off during the game through injury. Tommy got hit in his ribs and Blair rolled his ankle. Darcy and Byron McGuigan got whacks, one in the ribs and one in the shoulder/ neck area.
‘So there were a lot of knocks today but we don’t know how long they will be out.’
Townsend was critical of referee Pascal Gauzere for not issuing yellow cards to the Welsh when the Scots were laying siege to their try line but refused to blame him for the defeat.
‘If teams are giving away penalties close to their own try line through cynical play, whether it is in the lineout drive
or by not rolling away in the tackle area, then you expect that pressure close to their own try line to lead to yellow cards,’ he said. ‘That is international rugby, how it is refereed throughout the world.’
Townsend (below) did his best to put on a brave face after the defeat, making it clear there were a lot of positives in the performance.
‘I am very proud of the players and I felt that we started the game really well,’ he said. ‘We had some adjustments with players getting injured but then we didn’t defend well in the second quarter. But in the first quarter and the second half, we played well. ‘I believe we were the better team, the team that dominated possession and got in behind the opposition defence, so I am really proud of the players putting on that performance, in front of the supporters who were really energised by the way we were playing against one of the best teams in the world. ‘So pride is my strongest emotion and obviously frustration that we didn’t get the win.’ Scotland captain Stuart McInally admitted his side had let themselves down because of their poor first half.
‘We are massively disappointed with that but we were not accurate enough to win the game,’ said McInally.
‘We cost ourselves defensively in the first half and gave them a couple of cheap tries.
‘When Darcy went over for his try in the second half I thought we could go on and win it. The crowd were right behind us and that gave us a lift and we threw everything we could at them.
‘It was so frustrating not to get over the line.
‘They are an excellent side but we could not break them down.’
‘We have one game left and we are going to do all we can at Twickenham to win. We are excited to go down there and want to finish this campaign on a high. We will be throwing everything at them.’