Gregor Townsend expects talks on his Scotland future as landmark looms

Head coach identifies encouraging progress ahead of summer tour

Gregor Townsend has entered the final year of his Scotland contract but has offered little indication as to whether he expects his tenure to be extended.

The 52-year-old head coach has already taken charge of more games - 92 - than any of his predecessors and is on course to hit the century mark during next year’s Six Nations. Whether he remains in situ beyond the championship remains to be seen.

His deal expires in April and although talks have taken place with Alex Williamson, Scottish Rugby’s new chief executive, and David Nucifora, the performance director who has been hired on a consultancy basis, Townsend said they were not related to his contract.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend announces his squad for the Skyscanner Pacific Tour. | SNS Group

“I've had conversations with both David and Alex about the future but not necessarily my future,” he said. “[They were] just about where the team is going, reviewing the Six Nations but also areas that we might have to strengthen or look to bring more players through, what's the challenges. So they're normal, those conversations, but nothing about my own situation.

“So I’d imagine those conversations will start as we get closer to November or after the summer tour.”

Townsend, who has led Scotland into two Rugby World Cup and eight Six Nations Championships, sees the tour as a chance to gain important ranking points which would help his side gain a higher seeding when the draw for the 2027 World Cup takes place in December this year.

It opens with a (non-ranking) fixture against the Māori All Blacks in Whangārei on July 5 and continues with two Test matches, against Fiji and Samoa, which will count towards the world rankings. Scotland sit seventh at the moment, tucked in between sixth-placed England and eighth-placed Australia, and Townsend would like to see his team in the top six in time for the draw, thus ensuring they would be in the first group of seeds and avoiding the calamity of the last World Cup when, as third seeds, they were paired with South Africa and Ireland and eliminated in the pool stage for the second tournament running.

The match with the Māori All Blacks will be Scotland’s first since they lost to France in the Six Nations finale and the period since has been a time for reflection and education, said Townsend. He travelled to Australia to spend time with the Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm rugby league teams and the Brisbane Lions Australian Rules side, while assistant coach Pete Horne went to New Zealand.

For the second year running, Scotland finished fourth in the Six Nations, winning two and losing three, an outcome that fell below expectations. Not surprisingly, Townsend was keener to draw on the positives from the tournament and felt that Scotland’s performance against France in Paris offered cause for optimism despite the 35-16 defeat. He felt his side matched the champions physically and talked up the way his forwards competed.

Gregor Townsend felt Scotland fronted up physically against France in the final game of this year's Six Nations. | SNS Group

“We've reflected a lot on our performance, we've had learnings,” said Townsend. “Pete Horne was out in New Zealand for three weeks, I was out in Australia for a week, so it is a good period to not just focus on your own game but how can you add from other experiences.

“The most relevant game is the last one you played, which I thought was a really positive performance in Paris. And it gives me a lot of optimism of what our team can do when we go up against a big side. And the big sides we've gone up against this year - South Africa, Ireland, England, France, the real physical teams. . . . Most - not the Ireland game, but South Africa, France and England - we've really fronted up physically and we've been able to impose our game.”

That may be so but Scotland still lost those games and there remains doubts about the depth of their forward resources to compete against South Africa, Ireland and France who are able to field ferocious starting packs and replace them with equally formidable substitutes.

“There are other areas we have to improve, we know that,” added Townsend. “Taking opportunities. We were held up over the line against France, we were held up a couple of times against Wales, and we had opportunities against England - we should have scored another seven to 14 points.

“But a lot of the game that we want to work on with our players is in place. It's against the top teams as well, and accuracy and keep driving our game, our players driving it as much as the coaches, is what we want to do with the team. But there's nothing there when we reflected ‘Oh we really need to change this,’ or ‘This is a big part of the game that we're struggling with’.

“I think the forwards in particular showed what they can deliver this year, so that gives us a lot of encouragement for the future.”

Fiji's Tevita Ikanivere leads the cibi war dance before the match against Scotland at Murrayfield in November. | SNS Group / SRU

Next month’s games are against sides ranked below Scotland but have a hazardous feel to them. The Scots scored eight tries in beating Fiji 57-17 at Murrayfield in November but playing them in the heat and humidity of Suva is a different challenge altogether as Townsend knows only too well. His first tour in charge of Scotland saw them lose 27-22 in the Fijian capital in 2017.

The final game, against Samoa, will be played at Eden Park in Auckland, negating any home advantage the islanders might have had.

Sky Sports will show live coverage of the opener against the Māori All Blacks which is scheduled for 4.35am in the UK. The Fiji match on July 12 is another which should suit insomniacs and kicks off at 4am while the Samoa game on July 18 starts at the more respectable 9.05am BST. A broadcaster has yet to be confirmed for the latter two but talks are ongoing.

Scotland’s Skyscanner Pacific Tour squad

Backs: Fergus Burke (Saracens), Matt Currie (Edinburgh), Jamie Dobie (Glasgow), Darcy Graham (Edinburgh), Adam Hastings (Glasgow), George Horne (Glasgow), Tom Jordan (Glasgow), Cameron Redpath (Bath), Stafford McDowall (Glasgow), Harry Paterson (Edinburgh), Arron Reed (Sale), Kyle Rowe (Glasgow), Ollie Smith (Glasgow), Kyle Steyn (Glasgow), Ben White (Toulon).

Forwards: Ewan Ashman (Edinburgh), Josh Bayliss (Bath), Gregor Brown (Glasgow), Matt Fagerson (Glasgow), Rory Darge (Glasgow, capt), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh), Paddy Harrison (Edinburgh), Cameron Henderson (Leicester), Alec Hepburn (Scarlets), Will Hurd (Leicester), Alexander Masibaka (Soyaux Angouleme), Nathan McBeth (Glasgow), Elliot Millar Mills (Northampton), Ben Muncaster (Edinburgh), Andy Onyeama-Christie (Saracens), Fin Richardson (Glasgow), Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh), Rory Sutherland (Glasgow), Marshall Sykes (Edinburgh), George Turner (Kobe Steelers), Max Williamson (Glasgow).

Fixtures: July 5: Māori All Blacks (Whangārei, 4.35am BST); July 12: Fiji (Suva, 4am BST); July 18: Samoa (Auckland, 9.05am BST).