Scotland turn to darts in bid to hit the autumn bullseye

Gregor Townsend has brought in darts and quiz nights for the Scotland players as they prepare for the autumn Tests.

Scotland coach Gregor Townsend has introduced darts nights. Picture: Craig Williamson/SNS

The national side take on Georgia on Friday evening in the first of six matches to be played during the international window.

The squad have been putting in the hard yards on the training ground and have been trying to hit the bullseye during downtime at the team hotel on the outskirts of Edinburgh.

“We had a darts night the other night so I don’t know if [Gregor’s] been doing a bit of darts in his shed [during lockdown],” said Nick Haining, the Scotland No 8.

Haining was happy to report that the forwards beat the backs on the oche. “Hamish Watson and Benny Toolis were the standout players,” he said.

Darts was a big hit with England’s footballers during the last World Cup and was said to have helped foster team spirit.

Gareth Southgate’s side went on to reach the semi-finals and a similar level of attainment would serve Scotland well as they return to action for the first time since March.

There has also been a bit of quizzing, with the players tested on their rugby knowledge. Jamie Richie came out on top in what must go down as another victory for the forwards.

The serious business will move a bit closer today when Townsend names his side to face Georgia in what is a warm-up Test for the Six Nations clash with Wales in Llanelli a week on Saturday.

Scotland played the eastern Europeans twice before last year’s Rugby World Cup but Georgia have overhauled their coaching staff since then, with Levan Maisashvili replacing Milton Haig as head coach.

The Scots players were due to some video analysis of their opponents this week but Haining was mindful of potential changes in personnel and tactics.

“There is a little bit of footage but obviously they’ve got new coaching staff so they could be playing completely differently,” Haining said. “So we need to be ready for anything, really.”

Scotland were victorious in both those World Cup warm-up matches, winning 44-10 in Tbilisi and 36-9 at Murrayfield.

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