READY TO ROAR FOR THE LIONS!
HIS voice was a bit croaky, his eyes not quite fully open, but after being up all night celebrating the win over France you could forgive Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend for not looking or sounding his best at 9am on Saturday morning.
‘I was sitting with Ryan Wilson two hours ago and he was fast asleep while I was still awake, so that’s one of my proudest moments,’ smiled 47-year-old Townsend from the lobby of the Scotland’s team Paris hotel. ‘He couldn’t keep up!
‘To win and share the evening with the guys was enjoyable and getting texts congratulating the team from the likes of Ally McCoist was fantastic. I’m maybe not feeling bad now but probably will later as it was a good night.’
Still running on adrenaline after one of the most thrilling wins in
Scottish rugby history, Townsend talked passionately about how proud he was of his team. And how he firmly believes he can look forward to more nights on the tiles with his team celebrating famous victories.
As well as challenging for the next Six Nations — despite three wins out of five, Scotland still finished just fourth in the table — he believes lots of his players have done enough to merit selection for the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa in the summer.
Although he wouldn’t confirm it, Townsend (right) will be attack coach under Warren Gatland and having him on the Lions selection panel could help push some marginal decisions the Scotland players’ way.
The win over England at Twickenham, the Scots first victory there in 38 years, on top of the triumph in the French capital — the first since 1999 — should have put to bed any concerns Gatland may have had that Scotland couldn’t win on the road.
Townsend, when asked whether the dramatic win over France away should convince Gatland to pick lots of his players for the Lions, replied: ‘It should. Absolutely. Going into the France game, we talked to our players and from a stats point of view, we felt we were the two best teams. Attack-and-defence stats, we were first and second with France in most of the categories. So if you are looking at stats, then our players are as good as any out there in the championship.
‘If you are looking at wins, to win in France and win in London, no team has done that during the last two years, but our team has. If you are going to look at playing one of the best teams in the world in South Africa with the Lions, you can take into account our players have won away twice in this Six Nations, whether it is with crowds or not, so you’ve got to then say that the players have put themselves in position to be on that Lions tour. ‘There will be a few head-toheads for selection, no doubt, but I felt against France, in the Twickenham game and even the Wales game, where we played well for a lot of the match, our players have put their hands up, and now it will just go down to selection. But I’m sure we have made it a lot tougher than it was four years ago, and four years before that, when it comes to Lions selection.’
One man who is sure to be on the tour is Scotland captain Stuart Hogg, who Townsend believes has grown in stature through the Six Nations. He may have been yellowcarded against France but only because he was the fall guy after the Scots conceded a string of penalties.
‘This season, Stuart has moved on as a leader,’ said the head coach. ‘This time last year, he was captain for the first time. If you think back to those first two games, he had to go through a couple of errors on the field, he had to deal with a lot off the field and get his team going in the right direction.
‘After defeats to Ireland and England, to then get three wins, that took a lot of learning in that role.
‘I feel after the autumn campaign, coming into the Six Nations he has really stepped up as a person and captain and brought other people into leadership roles.
‘The first role as a leader is to play well and he has done that. Against England, he was outstanding and it was among the best he has ever played for Scotland.
‘He brought us back in the Wales game to almost winning and in Paris he had an unbelievable kick left to right. Also, his yellow card wasn’t
Our players have put themselves in the position to be on the Lions tour
really his fault, it was a team penalty, and he showed good composure.
‘He is growing into a really great Scotland captain and out of all our players, he is the one who cares most about Scotland’s place in history. He is a massive rugby fan. He loves Scottish rugby and Scottish history, so he is aware of how big these two wins over England and France have been this year.
‘We have seen the best of Stuart as a leader and a player, so we are delighted with where he is.’
Another of the players whose performances have brought him into Lions’ selection is winger Duhan van der Merwe, who scored the winning try in the last play of the game against France.
He may have made a bad mistake in missing a tackle in the build-up to one of the French tries but more than compensated for that with his winning touchdown.
‘I know going into the game Duhan was close to having the best Six Nations stats ever for tackle breaks and I’m sure he would have broken that in Paris,’ said Townsend.
‘That’s phenomenal. To score four tries in his last two games on the back of that great try at Twickenham shows he’s also a finisher, not just a tackle breaker.
‘He’s really integrated well in our squad. He works hard at training and you see he transfers it into the games. He gets a lot of the ball and to step up in that environment against France and score those tries was massive for us.
‘He’s a young player, he has something different. We don’t seem to naturally produce, let’s say, that type of player who’s so strong in the tackle break. He has lovely passing skills and good under the high ball.’
There are others in the frame for Lions selection such as flanker
Hamish Watson and centre Chris Harris, who enhanced their chances after their performances in Paris.
‘What a Six Nations Hamish has had,’ added Townsend. ‘He’s been really consistent and he gives you more than a usual openside with his ball carrying. His tackling has been outstanding. He bounces out of tackles. That’s the best I’ve seen him play on a consistent basis.
‘Chris has been great for the last couple of years. He defends well and that is a huge part of winning Test matches.
‘We knew the challenge the French would bring in that 13 channel and their wings. Moving to the wing he did a great job. He brings more than just defence. He also brings focus in attack.
‘All in all, I am so proud of this squad. Even though we finished fourth, it feels like one of our best-ever seasons.’