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Gregor Townsend warns Scotland must 'improve again' despite back-to-back wins

By PA
(Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Gregor Townsend refused to get carried away after watching Scotland kick off a Guinness Six Nations campaign with back-to-back wins for the first time as Finn Russell led a second-half destruction of Wales.

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The head coach felt his team were slightly better in their 35-7 victory over the Welsh than in their opening weekend triumph away to England, but he was keen to stress the importance of continued improvement.

Asked if it felt like a statement win ahead of the trip to France in a fortnight, Townsend said: “No. It feels like an improved performance.

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“It did not feel like that at half-time, but the second half was improved.

“If it was a seven out of 10 last week, it has moved up to an eight out of 10 and we will have to improve again.

“The next two teams we play (France and Ireland) are ranked one and two in the world and we have to get up to nine out of 10 to beat them.

“The internal focus was on playing better than we did last week. We did in the end do that but there is more to come from the group.”

Stand-off Russell produced a magnificent performance in which he directly laid on three of his team’s tries and also played a part in another.

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“Very good,” said Townsend of the number 10’s display. “The threats that Finn has around him set up opportunities. He made very good decisions on what opportunities to take.

“In November, he played really well against New Zealand and Argentina. Against England he built into the game, and today was something similar.

“I thought he was really good defensively today. He’s a really competitive player and that comes out in different ways. It often comes out in his defence, his contact clears – things that won’t get spotted.

“The things that will get spotted are his offloads and kicks which were excellent, but when he’s at that level of focus and competitiveness, he’ll deliver a very good performance like he did today.”

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The victory saw Scotland claim the Doddie Weir Cup in the first Test match at BT Murrayfield since the death of the former lock, who lost his battle with motor neurone disease in November.

Townsend was delighted to get the win in honour of his friend and former team-mate.

“I’m sure he would have been proud,” said the head coach. “He used to message me before and after games.

“He would always wish us all the best before the game and I’d picture him having a Guinness or a red wine sitting at home.

“If we won, he would say after the game that it was all down to the coaches, and if we lost he would say it was nothing to do with the coaches.

“It was always a nice text to receive from him, and Cathy (his wife) has continued that tradition.

“It was a big day for Cathy and the boys and for them to feel that love that everyone has for them. And for Doddie’s legacy to continue with the fundraising, today was a special day.

“It was brilliant that we were able to win for them.”

Wales head coach Warren Gatland admitted his side “are in a bit of a hole at the moment” as he lamented a second heavy defeat in consecutive matches following last weekend’s 34-10 loss at home to Ireland.

“We’ve given away 17 penalties in the game which is not acceptable at this level, and we’ve created opportunities and haven’t been clinical enough to take them,” he said.

“It is pretty disappointing because we could have gone in at half-time ahead and once they took their opportunities well we ended up chasing the game.”

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Werner 35 minutes ago
URC teams aren't proving Stephen Donald wrong

Mate, you're the one that brought up financials saying they have to run a 12 month season to make ends meet. If they were in the SRP they would be struggling more financially. If you think financials don't have an impact a teams competitiveness I would argue different. More money means more capacity to retain and develop talent, to develop rugby pathways and most importantly keep the lights on during the ebb years.


Secondly if we are calling SRP and URC a domestic comp I feel like we're colouring well outside the lines. But if we are drawing parallels to SRP and URC “domestic” comps and you're question of dominance I'd point out that SA have had 3 teams in each quarter final since they joined and either won or been a runner up to the tournament every year. Hardly flunking it. As far as fanbase, you can use viewership, subscriptions or bums on seats and CC is still ahead on the fanbase vs SRP, the benefit of a rugby nation with double the population of AU.

Other than financials the benefits of URC are also as you mentioned more games but also more teams and players getting exposure to professional rugby (it's actually 5 teams if you include the repechage of the SA teams). With the schedules and competition setup all URC teams are required to have enough players to field 2-3 teams across the season. Previously under the SR you had 5 teams being forced into 4 squads with minimal change between squads week in week out.


See the thing about the SR or URC being better for competitiveness falls over pretty quick when you understand its a too way street. Arguing that SA is better or worse off because they left the SRP implies that AU and NZ aren't impacted and that they some how stay sharp without outside competition. All teams are worse off in the regard that they are no longer exposed to the different playing styles But When you consider RWC I would argue that being in the URC is a benefit to SA because they are far more likely to face a European team in the pool stages than AU or NZ.

43 Go to comments
S
SK 56 minutes ago
Why ‘the curse of the Bambino’ is still stronger than ever at Leinster

Well Nick I have a theory why Leinster seem to lose so often at this stage of the season and it has to do with the Six Nations and what happens after that. In all of the seasons Leinster have come up short they have dominated going into the 6N. Then after that with Irish players coming out of camp they have some breathing space in the URC so they rest the lads. The SA tour almost always follows between week 12-16 of the URC. Leinster send weakened teams and have lost all games but one against the Sharks this year. They invariably ship one more in the URC regular season to an Ulster or a Munster and this year it was the Scarlets. They usually do so when starting weakened sides or teams that are half baked with a few of their internationals and their bench strength in what can be described as some kind of odd trail mix. The 6N takes its toll. The Irish lads come back battered and some come back injured. They also spend time in Irelands camp training within Irish systems with the coaches and these are slightly different to what they do at Leinster and in the last 2 seasons have been massively different on D. In the last 4-6 weeks of the URC the boys coming back from the Irish camp are not featuring. They are managed either side of the knockouts in the Champions cup. They sometimes play just 3-5 games over a 10 week period. They go from being battered and bruised to being underdone and out of whack. They lose all momentum with the losses they accrue and doubts start to set in. Suddenly sides find ways to unlock them, they make mistakes and they just cant deal with the pressure. At this time the weather also turns from cold, wet and rancid to bright and sunny. Suddenly the tempo is lifted on fields and conditions that are great for attractive rugby. Leinster start to concede points and dont put in the shift they used to. They have no momentum to do so. When will the coaching staff realise that they need to do something different at this point? They keep trying to manage the players and their systems in the same way every season when the boys come back from Ireland duty and its always the same result. A disaster in the last 3-4 weeks of the season. This year it came earlier. Maybe thats a blessing. With 2 rounds left in the URC they can focus their attentions. Perhaps thats where Leinsters attention needs to be anyway. They need to reclaim their bread and butter competition title before pushing onto the next star.

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LONG READ Why ‘the curse of the Bambino’ is still stronger than ever at Leinster Why ‘the curse of the Bambino’ is still stronger than ever at Leinster
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