Six Nations Rugby: cots attack coach warns rivals have plenty in the locker

Published on Monday 7 February 2011 14:34

SCOTLAND attack coach Gregor Townsend has pinpointed the key threats his side will have to overcome to get their RBS Six Nations Championship bid up and running at home to Wales on Saturday.

After going down 21-34 in France despite scoring three tries, the Scots face opponents who have won on two of their last three Murrayfield visits.

Making it clear that the task of returning to winning ways is not going to get any easier, Townsend singled out a handful of rivals guaranteed to make it hot for skipper Al Kellock's men both at close quarters and in open spaces at the back.

"Wales have a lot of good ball carriers, whether forwards like Bradley Davies or Ryan Jones or ball players like (James) Hook, (Shane) Williams and Jonathan Davies," said Townsend, pictured, adding: "These backs are very good at taking ball to the line and finding weaknesses in a defence. Wales are physical and play good rugby as well."

It is also the case that both Welsh club sides to so far visit Murrayfield this season - Llanelli and Cardiff - have departed victorious over Edinburgh and of the squad that launched the Championship against England nine are from these Regional teams.

So, a mould will have to be broken and Townsend also said: "Wales play with a lot of pace and believe their game will really stress a team. They will want to keep the ball more (as) against England they played territory early on and then in the second half they were getting more ground through moving the ball." Whatever the pace, though, Townsend is confident Scotland will do more than cope having made dents in the French staying power, he claimed.

"Lasting the pace in what was a very fast game in Paris was satisfying especially when speaking afterwards with their coaches and being told they felt France were struggling for fitness at the end of the first half. The disappointing thing was that we did not get possession in the third quarter to build on that. I thought that was where the game was won and lost moreso than giving them a couple of easy tries.

"You saw, the amount of subs they brought on, that they felt the pace of the match and it was pleasing our guys were really going at the end.

"The ball was really coming back quickly and with new law interpretations doing the right thing in attack (at rucks) means the ball should come back quickly because teams are being penalised for slowing ball down.

"We want to keep opponents on the back foot, working harder in attack than they are working on defence. That's key.

"Part of the secret is the fact the Magners League is fast paced and in putting a lot of focus on strength and conditioning our medical recovery team are up there with the best in the world."

At the heart of the fast forward Scots was Six Nations debutant Joe Ansbro whose two previous appearances came against South Africa and Samoa last Autumn. It was a performance that earned Ansbro a place in the Team of the Opening Round as selected by the influential Planet Rugby website whose citation said: "His metre- making ability against France was a massive plus."

Second row Richie Gray is the other Scot included and Townsend said: "It was great to see Joe play the way he did. The more the game went on he grew and grew (through) doing the simple things well.

"Also he was confident on the ball and his touch for the try (by Lamont) was good to see. He can take a lot of confidence from the fact that what he does at club level will work at international level. We give individuals a game plan but also the freedom to express themselves and it was great to see the likes of Joe and Max (Evans) doing that."

Meanwhile, Planet Rugby said of Gray: "French fans even warmed to the youngster as they applauded him when replaced late on. Gray is already being touted as a 2013 British and Irish Lion."

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