Six Nations: Gregor Townsend in talks with SRU over new contract
Andy Robinson deep in conversation with Gregor Townsend. Picture: Getty
GREGOR Townsend is expected to remain part of the Scotland coaching set-up, at least for the foreseeable future, despite reports claiming yesterday that he is to be released from his duties.
The assistant coach, who has responsibility for attack, has been held responsible in some quarters for Scotland’s recent failure to score tries. Greig Laidlaw’s touchdown in the 27-13 defeat against Wales on Saturday was the national team’s first try in five games.
Robinson confirmed on Sunday that his defence coach Graham Steadman will leave the coaching team when his contract expires in May, and some commentators drew from his after-match ‘no comment’ on the future of Townsend that the attack coach was also in line to be released. That was, however, wide of the mark.
Townsend told The Scotsman: “I have been in discussions about extending my contract beyond this season and am very hopeful that this will happen. Ultimately, that is not up to me and you never know what lies around the corner. If we do not manage to improve the ratio of victories, then I accept that international rugby is a harsh place and you might not get the time you want to make the improvements you want to make.
“But there have been no indications to me that I am no longer wanted, and I have had very positive discussions with Andy about what we want to do in the short, medium and long-term to take this squad forward. We remain confident that we can do it and these players are capable of pushing Scotland forward.”
Robinson’s record as Scotland coach has come under scrutiny after Scotland suffered their first exit from the World Cup in the pool stages and, while the team has increased its line-breaking ability and become more threatening across the past year, the ongoing failure to produce more tries and wins remains the Achilles heel. The picture seemed brighter this year, but a failure to finish a glut of chances against an England side that provided little threat was costly and the team’s coughing-up of chances in Cardiff was brutally exploited when a Welsh side boasting terrific fire-power seized on errors to run in three second-half tries.
Scotland came back strongly in the last quarter and scored twice, albeit with Stuart Hogg’s debut “try” wrongly ruled out by referee Roman Poite before Laidlaw dived over, and Townsend drew some confidence from that.
“The last two weeks have been tough,” Townsend acknowledged, “but actually the defeat to England was worse because we created so much and did not score against a team that scored only through a charge-down. Wales are stronger and I would not be surprised if they went on to win the championship, if not a Grand Slam, but still the guys are very frustrated.
“A lot of the problems we had against England, which was our first game together in four months, were ironed out in our attacking organisation and shape particularly, which we saw on Sunday against a very good Welsh defence.
“Winning teams execute well under pressure consistently and we’re still not there yet, but errors will come for every team at this level with the size of the hits and when you have two teams that want to play. The key is absorbing them without cost and, ideally, not losing a man never mind two, which was unfortunate.”
He added: “There is no doubt within the management and squad that we have come on from where we were a year or two years ago, but obviously we need the results to show that.
“Now it’s about looking forward. We all believe that we can beat France at Murrayfield and beat Ireland and Italy. It’s tough, of course, but we have the players to do it. The belief is definitely there.”
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Comments
There are 34 comments to this article
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MrJaffa
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 06:15 PM#33...... Exactly. If you play and dont score tries you are rubbish.......if you havent played but can score tries at club level....you are amazing
SeniorandSenior
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 05:40 PMEvery new back who gets picked for scotland is the great white hope who plays under the ridiculous weight of expectation that he's going to run tries in from his own 22, never make mistakes and never miss a tackle. Just wait, Tim Visser will get capped in Oz, he'll drop a ball, and then he'll be rubbish, should never play for scotland again etc. etc. Same thing happened to Rob Dewey, Niki Walker, Phil Godman, Jamie Meyer (who he?). We've got form.... realism please?
Beefy
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 04:07 PMGregor and Tom were parachuted in straight after their playing days and many would see this as unfair, especially if they have worked up the ladder. In our Club game we have many Scottish coaches who should be given a chance instead of bringing them in from other nations. Give the likes of George Graham at Gala, Chalmers at Melrose, Wright at Glasgow Hawks, or Murray at Ayr. Why are these sorts of guys not getting their chance? We can see how well their doing at club level so give them a chance or we're going to lose them to other countries who can give them better opportunities.
aijeep
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 02:44 PMHaving read most of the comments I had to repspond. We keep pointing at AR and Townsend as the problem to why we are not winning. Since AR has taken over Scotland have been getting better and that is evident in more possession and more line breaks than in the past and playing rugby beyond the game line. The game plan is right and is working at times but the execution by the players is not happening. An example, great to see Hogg get a run on Sunday but again the level of execution was not there. He made a great individual break but failed to read what was in front of him.. run straight at the space draw defence and there were 4 players on his inside shoulder. Try under the posts 27 - 20 and 15 mins to go. I can give you many instances where the patterns are right but reading of the game as it unfolds is not happening. That is down to the players and their execution. Coaches caoch a patternstyle - players exectute and it is the execution that is missing. 90% there but that 10% will make the difference between winning and losing. As they say winning or losing is a habit. The players need to find the winning habit and this same squad can win championships. If we get rid of AR andor Townsend who else will we bring in? Bradley (great in HC but cannot win in league)? Another foreign coach? Chalmers? Redpath?
MrJaffa
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 02:41 PM#29.... I think that is slightly harsh but the forwards do have to vary it a bit to create the opportunities. I think they started to do that pretty well against Wales, reacting to the way the Welsh were set up at times........................... What I would like to see (and this is where I think Edinburgh have success) is the forwards getting at the opposition 10 and 12 when in the 22 AND then getting very quick ball. To me, when we are in the 22 the forwards tend to keep it too close to the ruck thus allowing the opposition front 5 to do most of the defensive work. Then when we do get a forward going closer to the backs, he tends to not have the required support to get quick ball. IF we can get Denton running at the inside centre and stand off with the rest of the back row securing FAST ball for the scrum half to use straight away, THEN you have taken out 2 backs and the opposition forwards and hopefully have 5 backs up against 3 when you go wide quickly. BUT its the getting the forwards outside the opposition back row AND getting QUICK ball that creates that. Edinburgh score tries by doing exactly that then pass pass out to Visser who is at worst one on one with his man.
Mlyons1951
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 01:58 PMBut there plenty of backs in the other sides that are not far off the weight of Cuthbert. Now they all know they just have to run at Laidlaw and a try is scored. Imagine the outcry if Parks had missed an easy tackle like that. I seem to remember from primary school that you are supposed to go for the legs.. Why are these discussions always about the backs? Scotland for years has had forwards who seem to think they have played well if for 40 minutes they have moved backwards and forwards across the pitch. How about selecting some who try to move up the pitch instead of just running in to the opposition and lying down.
crookedfeed
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 01:47 PMAndy Robinson and Gregor Townsend have a very difficult job. The hallmark of the TelferMcGeechan era was that there was a consistency in selection, admitting of course that there were a limited supply of genuine international standard players. But the players who could perform at that level were identified and built into very good teams - especially in 1984 and 1990. I think the best team has been fielded in the first two games after the round of substitutions which takes place 15 mins. or so after half time. Sound partnerships have been used (BlairLaidlaw) and good blends used (Kellock, Gray, Denton, Barclay & Rennie). As we all should know, outstanding players in a particular position do not necessarily go to make the most effective blend. I believe the coach's job is to identify these blends and use them from the start. Scotland certainly came near to 'clicking' against Wales with Laidlaw at the helm but for the 'yellow peril' and Laidlaw himself being brushed off by Alex Cuthbert. But how many in world rugby with that particular weight differential would have pulled off that tackle ?
MrJaffa
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 01:03 PM#26 Seven......... point taken..... and you are right.... he is probably not far away from the scrum half spot too....... However I dont really have too many concerns over SH...... I am happy enough that Cusiter Blair and Lawson are all international standard scrum halves and I dont ever get worked up over which of these are picked. .......................... I guess the point I was trying to make was that everyone is clamouring for these guys to get picked and the old ..... if you are good enough you are old enough ..... remarks come out...... but when you actually look at it..... Robinson IS picking them...... perhaps 1 game later than some would have liked but I have to say if the back line against England had been 9-Laidlaw, 10-Weir, 11-Lamont, 12-Scott, 13-De Luca, 14-Jones, 15-Hogg I would have been quite frankly bricking it. ...... I still think he should have started with Laidlaw at 10 with Parks on the bench v England, but I think the others are filtering through at the right rate.
Sevendirtywords
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 12:48 PMMr J - agree with your sentiment but have to pick you up on one fact ;) Laidlaw does not have 6 MONTHS of stand-off form. He hasn't even started 6 MATCHES there. IIRC he has started 4 matches at Edinburgh at 10, moved to 10 during the first half of one of the HEC games when Leonard took a knock and has switched to 10 at various points in the second half of several matches. He is good there because he is a very natural Rugby player with good hands, a good boot and, most importantly, a good brain. He is still first and foremost a scrum half - and given Cusiter's recent form possibly a good candidate for our starting 9.
The Diplomat
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 12:39 PMI hope the picture above reflects Tooni'e new job - ball boy!
MrJaffa
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 12:31 PMI realise I didnt mention forwards so just for balance........................... Richie Grey - capped aged 20...........Dave Denton - capped aged 21 ........Ross Rennie......capped aged 21...........John Barclay.....capped aged 21...... Ross Ford......capped aged 20
MrJaffa
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 12:24 PMI have to say some of the chat about the lack of opportunities for new players seems to me to be true.... but somehow missing something................ Lets look at the players that everyone is calling for.............Laidlaw at stand off......errr.....yes...... played him..... could we have played him last year? No - he was a scrum half then.....so he HAS been picked on 6 months of stand off play................. Weir - First full season as a pro..and he IS in the Scotland squad........ Hogg - first full season of pro rugby and he IS in the squad - Lee Jones - 2nd full season of pro rugby and he IS in the team.......... so we have 4 players (3 young players) who are in the first year or 2 of playing pro rugby and they HAVE been pushed up into the squad or team - Matt Scott - first full season as a pro ....already on the fringes of the match day squad..................... so sorry.......what MORE do we want from Robinson and co in respect of picking youngsters?
Wester heather
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 11:46 AMI have to say that I think that we are moving in the right direction. However my biggest frustration with the selection of Scotland is that it seems to be harder to get dropped than it is to get selected. Natural composure is what is required. Time after time when we get close to the line we get over excited and always end up knocking the ball on. This isn't something that can be blamed on the coach but something that is down to the players. I wouldn't worry about the coaching at the moment. If anything the biggest problem is over coaching. Look at Stuart Hogg he's fresh into pro rugby and plays naturally what he see's in front of him and it as if rugby is in his blood. The forwards are playing but need to look for off loads at times instead if always just getting blinkered into head down contact. I don't like to criticise players but i feel that NDL has had too many opportunities and shown not enough. Andy now is the time to blood fresh talent
abselkirk
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 11:33 AMAm I missing something or did Bradley come to Edinburgh and turn an inexperienced team into a try scoring machine and then along with Craig Chalmers produce a Scotland A team that scored 4 tries against the Saxons all in his first season. I have nothing against Townsend but his record is very poor as is his experience ats a coach. So maybe we need a change.
Balders
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 10:59 AMDo coaches really have to have "qualifications" as such no not really as I believe that it is about exposure and experience. We used to have the best training in the world with our apprenticeship schemes which was predominantly on the job training with little college time whereas now its all class room and theory with job placements and the standards of workmanship are woeful. Why they are not learning from all the work experience of the prevuious generations and skills are being lost. Rugby is no different, I have my basic qualifications but my training is more based on my own experiences as a player and the coaching i received. Townsend and Smith have been coached by some of the finest coaches of the last 20 years and from different countries around the world. Our problem is the lack of clarity and direction in whats best for scottish rugby. 4 pro teams, 2 pro teams, 3 pro teams no lets have two pro teams, premier leagues, national leagues, regional leagues, regional championships and so on and so on. How much money has been frittered away over the years when we still rely on the huge volunteer base that runs youth rugby in Scotland with no or little recognition or reimbursement of the ever increasing cost especially once they get involved with age group representative teams but the SRU will fly a boy from SA to play for under 20s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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