Townsend sets his sights on Six Nations title tilts in years ahead
Gregor Townsend is confident his team can challenge for Six Nations titles in the coming years after the inspired fightback which saw them beat France 27-23 on Friday night.
The victory – their first in Paris since 1999 – only took them to fourth in the final table, just behind the French and irish, both of whom also won three and lost two of their matches.
But, after a Championship campaign which also saw his team win at Twickenham for the first time in 38 years as well as hammering Italy at home, the head coach is sure they can keep on getting better for some time to come.
“We’ve challenged in every game we’ve played in the last two years,” Townsend said yesterday.
“We’ve won six and had four games when we’ve been within seven points, so that’s being in a position to win every game.
“Stuart Hogg spoke after the game about this having to be the start of the journey to what this team can achieve. “We play this wonderful tournament every year, we’ve got a World Cup in two years now at the same stadium as we played last night, so performances like that and against England will give us confidence against any team we face that we can win if we get our best performance out on the park.”
Winger Duhan van der Merwe got the winning try deep into stoppage time – his second of the match – and substitute hooker Dave Cherry also touched down. But if any one player deserves most credit, it was that man Hogg, who since becoming captain has made the team believe they can beat anyone.
“This season he has moved on as a leader,” Townsend said of the 28-year-old.
“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 really well. Against England he was outstanding – among the best he has ever played for Scotland.
“He is growing into a really great Scotland captain. Out of all our players he is the one that 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 have been this year and we have seen the best of him as a leader and a player. We’re delighted with where he is.”
Hogg was yellow-carded for a team offence on the brink of half-time, and standoff Finn Russell was sent off late in the second half, but Scotland still had the character to fight back from 18-10 down at one point.
Townsend now has to wait until the summer to work with his players again, which is one of the frustrations of being a national coach. But he has every right to feel satisfied with the progress made over the past two months.
“It’s far less frustrating than if we had lost,” he insisted.
“That’s been disappointing in the past – when you’ve lost your last game of the campaign and you have two or three months to think about it.
“We have a lot to assess and reflect on what we need to improve, but it’s much better doing that off the back ofawin.”