The Sunday Telegraph - Sport

Townsend revenge mission fuelled by Gatland’s barbs

Kiwi was dismissive of Scotland after Wales burst their Six Nations bubble, writes Richard Bath

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Saturday’s match at Cardiff between Wales and Scotland is more than just another run-of-the-mill autumn encounter between two depleted Test sides. Wales’ 34-7 rout of Scotland nine months ago has added significan­ce to what should otherwise be a low-key affair. That context is given extra spice by the pitting together of two coaches who have diametrica­lly opposed visions of the game that collided in spectacula­r fashion at the beginning of February.

There are some rugby moments that linger long in the memory, and not all of them happen out on the pitch. The sight of Gregor Townsend’s shocked countenanc­e immediatel­y after his disastrous first Six Nations game as Scotland coach is as indelible a memory as the thrashing of Australia last year, the 61-21 defeat by England at Twickenham, Gavin Hastings’s penalty miss from in front of the posts in the 1991 World Cup semi-final or even referee Craig Joubert’s antics at the World Cup in 2015.

Townsend’s reaction to his side’s unexpected capitulati­on was a mix of emotions – none were welcome. There was shock, embarrassm­ent, horror and not a little bewilderme­nt. After beating Samoa, coming within a score of New Zealand and hammering Australia 53-24, Scotland were heavily tipped to win in Cardiff for the first time since 2002; indeed, their fans arrived in the Welsh capital expecting such an outcome. Instead, 24 points from Leigh Halfpenny, two tries from the full-back, plus one each for Steff Evans and Gareth Davies, exposed Scotland and torpedoed Townsend’s desire to play a fast, open game.

As Townsend squirmed in the aftermath, Wales coach Warren Gatland, clearly irked by the way in which his previously misfiring team had been discounted, twisted the knife in unseemly fashion. He seemed to suggest Scotland mixed hubris with naivety, and that they had been taught a lesson which wiser heads had foreseen.

“It was an afternoon I was expecting,” Gatland said. “There was a quiet confidence in the squad. We expected to win and to win reasonably comfortabl­y. I said I thought we’d win by 20.”

This was a seminal moment for Scotland’s new coach. The barely concealed implicatio­n within Gatland’s remarks was that opposition coaches had worked out Townsend’s Scotland, as they eventually worked out Townsend’s Glasgow, and that Wales had simply exploited the visitors’ manifest flaws.

The most obvious of these, Gatland said, was scrum-half Ali Price’s tendency to throw long, looping passes from the bottom of a ruck, with Davies intercepti­ng one for his try. Perhaps the Wales coach did Townsend a favour.

For the next match against France, he drew in his horns and prioritise­d experience over promise: debutant centre Chris Harris was benched, Cornell du Preez was dispatched to the rugby equivalent of Siberia, and wing Byron McGuigan gave way to the more experience­d Sean Maitland. The quick-fire Price, who many expected to displace Greig Laidlaw under Townsend, found himself an unused substitute against France (the experience shattered Price’s confidence and he has only recently rediscover­ed his mojo). They were sensible changes, particular­ly at scrum-half, where Laidlaw kicked 22 points as Scotland came from behind to win. Scotland went on to have a successful Six Nations, beating France and England at home, and Italy on the road, but that defeat – plus the tactical lesson administer­ed by Gatland – still rankles as much as the indignity of being patronised by the Kiwi in the aftermath.

The sense that this match represents unfinished business is palpable, not least because Townsend has referenced the pain of that defeat more than once recently. There will be those who will see Saturday as a match without meaning. The list of Scottish absentees includes talismans such as Stuart Hogg, John Barclay, Laidlaw and Maitland, while Wales will be without Rhys Webb, Dan Biggar, Liam Williams and Taulupe Faletau. Make no mistake, for Townsend, this is important.

 ??  ?? Score to settle: Scotland coach Gregor Townsend
Score to settle: Scotland coach Gregor Townsend
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