'A few changes': Scotland lift lid on team plan for Portugal after 'Six Nations-plus' match

It will be a very different Scotland team that takes on Portugal at Murrayfield this weekend compared to the one which lost 32-15 to South Africa on Sunday in what was an engrossing and hugely physical encounter.

Gregor Townsend’s side may not have won but they did move up a place in the World Rugby rankings and are now sixth, leapfrogging England who have dropped from fifth to seventh following their home defeat by Australia.

South Africa moved back to the top of the tree on the back of their four tries to nil victory at Murrayfield, with Ireland dropping from first to second after losing to New Zealand in Dublin on Friday.

Portugal are down in 15th place and while they will be afforded the respect they deserve after some eye-catching performances at last year’s Rugby World Cup, Townsend is mindful of the need to allow players to recover while giving others an opportunity this Saturday.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend is preparing his team to face Portugal. | SNS Group / SRU

“It’s a six-day turnaround after one of the toughest encounters that we’ll face,” said the Scotland coach. “And also there’s a group of players that have been working hard the last two weeks who deserve an opportunity. So, yeah, you’ll see a few changes next week.”

Townsend named a 45-man squad for the four-match autumn series which reached its halfway point against the Springboks. With games still to come against Portugal and Australia there are 16 players who have not been involved so expect to see on Saturday some or all of Jamie Bhatti, Luke Crosbie, Alex Craig, Freddy Douglas, Paddy Harrison, Will Hurd, Ewan Johnson, Nathan McBeth (if fit), Ben Muncaster, Alex Samuel, Matt Currie, George Horne, Rory Hutchinson, Harry Paterson, Arron Reed and Mosese Tuipulotu.

In addition, Johnny Matthews trained with Scotland ahead of the South Africa match as cover for Dylan Richardson and the Glasgow Warriors hooker has joined the squad this week alongside loosehead prop Alec Hepburn.

“Dylan Richardson had picked up a knock on Wednesday in training, but he turned it around in time,” said Townsend. “So, Johnny will be in the mix. We'll decide what we do with Ewan [Ashman] and Dylan. I thought Ewan was outstanding [against South Africa]. Defensively, Dylan made a big impact. Patrick Harrison is in our squad, so Johnny could be in the mix for next week as well.”

Jack Dempsey and Max Williamson both picked up shoulder injuries against the Boks, and both have left the squad. The better news is that Darcy Graham and Kyle Rowe are recovering well from head and hamstring injuries, respectively. Whether they play against Portugal or are kept back for the Australia match remains to be seen.

Townsend sees the Portugal game as an opportunity for some of the younger and fringe players to step up against opponents who stunned the rugby world by beating Fiji in last year’s World Cup in France.

Mosese Tuipulotu is one of a number of Scotland players who could come in this weekend. | SNS Group / SRU

“We know there’ll be a lot of different personnel involved next week,” said the coach. “And they’ve got to carry on the performance level that we’ve seen and deliver a result. Put pressure on us as we’re putting a team together for Australia.

“There were a lot of good performances on Sunday night, but there’s a chance for guys to impress us next week against Portugal. And the six-day turnaround is really tough for our players after that performance.”

It will be hard to replicate the levels of intensity that were on display against South Africa. Scotland stayed in the fight until late on when a couple of Handre Pollard penalties and Jasper Wiese’s last-minute converted try put a gloss on the scoreline for the tourists. Townsend’s side were guilty of failing to turn pressure into points. They had the Boks on the ropes for large periods in the second half but a combination of brilliant defending and a lack of precision by the hosts meant they couldn’t score a try. All Scotland’s points came from the boot of Finn Russell.

Nevertheless, Townsend hailed it as one of his side’s best ever performances and described the match as “Six Nations-plus” in terms of the quality, physicality and atmosphere which was enhanced by the large number of South Africans supporters inside Murrayfield.

“It felt like a Six Nations game, but then something else on top,” said the Scotland coach. “You’re playing the world champions, the number one team in the world. We’ve not met many world champions in the Six Nations. And South Africa played well. At times we forced errors off them, but they played at a high level. Their pace on the ball, I thought their ability to move the ball wide really tested us.

“But we were calm at times and, yeah, we did concede a couple of tries early on. But then we got really into how we’re defending, how we were getting the ball back. I thought it was a really unlucky try to concede when we steal a line out. But we adapted well. 

Scotland's Jack Dempsey tries to drive forward during the match against South Africa. | SNS Group / SRU

“I think this team has grown mentally. It’s a lot stronger mentally and together at finding solutions and also believing that they can win a game, even if they're under the cosh.”

“But that was one of our best ever performances and we’ve got to take that,” added Townsend. “That’s the baseline for when Portugal and Australia come and then there are two home games at the start of the Six Nations with Ireland and Italy first up. I know we’ve also got to take the learnings from how we could have got more points on the board and won that game. But if our players perform like that, with that effort and that physicality, we're going to have a good season.”