Scotland Rugby: Gregor Townsend gives '100% backing' to players after taking the knee debate

Scotland rugby coach Gregor Townsend says he "100%" backs his players in making a decision on whether they should take the knee or not.
Scotland Coach Gregor Townsend said he "100%" backs individual players' decisions to take the knee or not (Photo: Adrian Dennis).Scotland Coach Gregor Townsend said he "100%" backs individual players' decisions to take the knee or not (Photo: Adrian Dennis).
Scotland Coach Gregor Townsend said he "100%" backs individual players' decisions to take the knee or not (Photo: Adrian Dennis).

During an interview with the BBC today, Townsend said the team did not discuss plans surrounding whether or not to take the knee before the Calcutta Cup victory over England on Saturday.

Speaking on behalf of his team, the Scotland coach said: “We obviously stand against racism or discrimination in our sport.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Asked whether he leaves the decision down to individual players to take the knee or not, Townsend said: “Yes, 100%, we back our players on that.”

Some members of the England team also stayed standing as well as match officials and there was no clear orders from World Rugby or the Six Nations other than that there would be a minute's silence to demonstrate opposition to racism and discrimination.

His backing comes after Scotland’s thrilling 11-6 victory over England yesterday in their Six Nations, tie, the first time Scotland have defeated their old rivals at Twickenham in 38 years.

Duhan van der Merwe scored the vital try to help the Scots to their first triumph at English rugby’s HQ since 1983.

Despite England being priced at 1-6 to win with most bookmakers, Scotland’s Captain Stuart Hogg and his team were able to defeat England on their own grounds.

A message from the Editor:Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.