Six Nations: Gregor Townsend tells Scotland to improve in two areas for France match

The Scots kicked off campaign with rare win in Cardiff but second-half performance came with red flags

Gregor Townsend has warned that Scotland’s discipline and defence will have to improve for this Saturday’s Six Nations clash with France at Murrayfield.

The Scots opened their campaign with a 27-26 win over Wales, their first victory in Cardiff for 22 years, but the visitors almost conspired to throw away a game in which they had led 27-0. Scottish resolve crumbled in the face of a stirring second-half comeback and they conceded four unanswered tries and 14 consecutive penalties at the Principality Stadium. Scotland had two players yellow-carded in quick succession, with hooker George Turner and then centre Sione Tuipulotu being sent to the sin-bin. It meant they played 20 minutes of the second half with 14 men and Wales capitalised.

“Wales were not giving away penalties and we’ll have to make sure we are better next week,” said Townsend. “Better might be working on it, showing players it and being aware that if a referee is penalising you or if a team is starting to get dominance, let’s not help them by giving more penalties away. The two yellow cards really cost us on Saturday, when the momentum swing really went in their favour. They’re a quality side – we just can’t help them increase that momentum by being down to 14 men and giving away penalties. That’s what really cost us a chance to get a foothold in that second half.”

Scotland started their Six Nations campaign with a win but head coach Gregor Townsend wants improvement when France visit Murrayfield in Saturday.

Townsend knows France represents a significant step up in class and Fabien Galthié’s team will be smarting from their opening defeat by Ireland in Marseille. The Scotland coach has a decent record against the French – five wins from 11 – and enjoyed three memorable jousts with them last year, beginning with a 32-21 loss in Paris in the Six Nations, continuing with a home win against a fairly experimental France team in August and concluding with an unlucky three-point loss in Saint-Étienne.

“They are a great side with world class players and a massive pack,” said Townsend. “We’ve seen them play some brilliant rugby in the last 12 months. But we know them well – we played them three times last year and had three very close games against them. One win, one very close defeat and the Six Nations game when we had to come back from a red card and being down on the scoreboard. That was a really close game too.

“We’ve got to be better. We’ll focus on ourselves and adapt to what France do on the field. We’ll have to be better around when teams get go-forward against us. Our maul defence has been one of our key strengths over our last few games, and I’m sure that France will look at the Wales game and say, ‘we’ll go [challenge them] there’. We know we can be better. Defensively, we have to show for 80 minutes what we showed in the first half against Wales.”

Former Wales captain Sam Warburton, working as an analyst for the BBC, identified the drop-off in Scotland’s “defensive energy” in the second half and it leaves Steve Tandy, their defence coach, with much work to do this week. Townsend expects Rory Darge to be fit to face France and he could come in for Luke Crosbie who injured his shoulder in Cardiff. Richie Gray was another casualty. The lock damaged his bicep in the first half and may miss the remainder of the championship. Grant Gilchrist has now served his suspension and is available, although Sam Skinner performed well when he replaced Ritchie on Saturday.