Townsend relieved not to face similar questioning?
It hasn’t been a good week if you have been the coach of an international rugby team – at least not if you have been the coach of Wales or England.
Both Wayne Pivac and Eddie Jones were given their marching orders by their respective Unions. With the Rugby World Cup looming large on the horizon, it was a bold move.
I can understand why the Welsh Rugby Union decided that time had run out for Pivac.
Wales had been a shadow of their former selves and a home defeat by minnows Georgia seemed to be the final nail in Pivac’s coffin as coach of the national side.
Wales were also quick to announce his successor – Warren Gatland – who has made the most of relativelylimited resources in the past but who is very well regarded in the valleys. He has been seen as Wales’s saviour.
To sack Eddie Jones, however, was a different matter.
When you look at what Jones has achieved, his record is better than anyone else who has coached England in the professional era, including
Sir Clive Woodward.
Woodward has been quick to stab the Australian in the back in his newspaper column – perhaps envious of the fact that his own winning record is inferior to that of Jones.
Jones has always been somewhat of a “Marmite” character with players, press and fans. Having said that, it is hard to counter what the statistics tell us.
He has led England to a World Cup final and he continued to say that he wanted to be judged by the team’s ultimate performance in that competition.
Clearly, his master plan was building to a crescendo next year – but that will not be seen out.
Nor have England got a knight in shining armour who can come and save the day, like Warren Gatland in Wales.
Richard Cockerill is the man in charge in the interim and his record is far from perfect.
With all this going on, Gregor Townsend must be relieved that Scottish Rugby have not been asking similar questions of their coaching set-up.
Two wins out of four in the autumn may seem OK, but you have to remember that Scotland were against 14 men for three-quarters of the match against Argentina and the first half against Fiji was far from dominant.
And all that coming off a series loss in the summer.
Like England, Scotland cannot call on a saviour and that, along with the cost of buying out Townsend’s contract, may have spared him the axe.
What happens when contracts are up at the end of the World Cup is another matter and that is when the coaching merry-go-round could really gather some momentum.
Stability for the next 12 months may not be such a bad thing after all.