Gregor Townsend has switched his Six Nations focus to France and Saturday’s match at Murrayfield but aspects of last weekend’s dramatic win over Wales continue to nag at the Scotland coach.

He remains perplexed by the penalty count in Cardiff and astonished that his side were able to prevail while being punished so severely by the referee, Ben O’Keeffe of New Zealand.

“Unprecedented” and “unbelievable” were two of the adjectives used by Townsend who did not criticise O’Keeffe overtly but made it clear that he had sought clarification on the sheer weight of penalties against his side. From the eighth minute to the end of the match, the penalty count was 16-1 in favour of Wales. Scotland won the match 27-26 but had led 27-0 in the 43rd minute and saw their lead whittled down to a single point by four Welsh tries in a 20-minute period in the second half when they had two players yellow-carded.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend surveys training ahead of the clash with France.

But even when things were going well, the Scots found themselves on the wrong side of O’Keeffe. Twenty-four of Scotland’s points were scored during a period in which they conceded eight penalties and were awarded only one.

“We all make errors – coaches, players and referees,” said Townsend. “That’s always factored in. It's the first game of the season for these referees – they’ve not refereed since the World Cup and it’s a pretty big game to be refereeing in, a Six Nations game at the noisiest stadium you get. So who knows? The positive side is that even with an 8-1 penalty count against us, we found a way to defend our 22 because Wales had a few opportunities in that period, and then when we had our chances, we took them. We couldn’t keep that up when we were down to 14 men.”

The decibel level inside the Principality Stadium rose exponentially with each Welsh try but Townsend does not feel that influenced the referee unduly. What he would love to see is a similar atmosphere at Murrayfield on Saturday. “We do need the crowd to make it as hard as possible for the opposition, to know they are in foreign territory and it is cold up north, and there is a team of Scotsmen here that want to win,” said the coach. “You get energy from it, and Wales got energy when the crowd sensed there was a chance.”

Scottish referees Mike Adamson and Sam Grove-White both visited Townsend’s training camp this week and the coach is keen to get on the same wavelength as the match officials. Nic Berry, the Australian whistler, will take charge at Murrayfield on Saturday and Townsend will hope for a more equitable distribution of penalties. “It’s unprecedented, it’s unbelievable, to have a 16-1 penalty count against you after eight minutes,” said the Scotland coach. “And an 8-1 penalty count against you when you score 24 unanswered points is unbelievable. With that penalty count no international team should win a game of rugby, 16-1 and two yellow cards against you during that period. To weather that storm and score points when we were penalised eight to one is a real credit to what the players did. There is a review process we follow but that’s private between us and the match officials.”

Jack Dempsey will start for Scotland against France after impressing as a replacement against Wales. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

For all his grouses about the penalty count, Townsend acknowledged that there were failings in his side’s second half performance that contributed to Wales almost pulling off one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the venerable championship. In particular, some of the defending was below the level he has come to expect. “We could have done more in the tackle and that is something we addressed,” he said. “When you are getting penalised a lot and the opposition is getting momentum, you’ve still got to take the game to them. And that could have been done in the tackle, for sure.”

France should be familiar foes for Scotland who have played them three times in the past 12 months but the way Fabien Galthie’s side lost to Ireland in Marseille last Friday was out of character. There is no denying they missed their captain and talisman Antoine Dupont but this was a performance that was strangely ragged. Asked if he thought France were vulnerable, Townsend said: “There's a vulnerability in any team. If you play close to your best rugby against the opposition and pressurise them, there's going to be times they don't play as well and that's our aim this week. The other thing about their team and a reaction, who knows, but you go into a game of rugby to put the opposition under pressure and we've done that against France the last three times we've played them. We've got to do that again this weekend – and even better to make sure we win the game.”

Townsend has made three changes. Recently appointed co-captain Rory Darge returns following six weeks out with a knee injury and takes over as openside flanker from deposed captain Jamie Ritchie, who drops out of the 23. With flanker Luke Crosbie and second row Richie Gray out through injury, Jack Dempsey and Grant Gilchrist return. Dempsey comes in at No 8, with Matt Fagerson moving to the blindside flanker in a reshaped back row which is made in Scotstoun.

“Once we knew Luke was going to be ruled out and Rory was available we had a good look at the back-row and what the best blend would be, and we've gone with a Glasgow back-row,” explained Townsend. “The cohesion they have, knowing each other's games, and most importantly the blend they have. Rory’s an out-and-out seven who can carry the ball well - he’s got an all-round game - but we feel the carrying strengths of Matt and Jack give us a better mix this week.”

On-form Saracens flanker Andy Christie is among the replacements and it’s not just the back row which has a Glasgow influence. Ten of the 15 starters are Warriors players, testament to the work Franco Smith is doing at the club.

Jamie Ritchie's Scotland Six Nations absence explained as Rory Darge leads new back-row blend against France

Gregor Townsend issues Scotland Six Nations crowd appeal, opens up on ‘unprecedented’ stats and takes advice from two refs

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