1
Townsend thrilled with Scotland improvement
By Nicholas McGee
Gregor Townsend hailed Scotland's character and their improvement from the thrashing at the hands of Wales after they came from behind to beat France 32-26 in the Six Nations.
Having been thumped 34-7 by Wales in the tournament opener, Scotland appeared on course for another defeat when France raced into a 10-0 lead inside 10 minutes.
Les Bleus led 20-14 at half-time at Murrayfield but Scotland fought back brilliantly in the second half, six second-half penalties from Greig Laidlaw turning the game in their favour.
Next up for Scotland is a pivotal clash with defending champions England in Edinburgh in two weeks' time as they aim to win the trophy for the first time since 1999 - the last year of the tournament being the Five Nations.
Speaking to BBC Sport after the match, Townsend said: "[I'm] happier than last week that's for sure. The effort it takes to win a Test match is huge and doing it from behind shows the character in the squad.
"We were a bit more direct in the second half and we got our reward. France were excellent at the breakdown, at times they did go off their feet and they got penalised.
"Our forwards had such a massive game in the set piece and did so well, but they were still carrying."
Townsend took off fly-half Finn Russell with 15 minutes left, replacing him with scrum-half Ali Price and moving Laidlaw to the number 10 spot, and the decision paid dividends.
"It was mentioned during the week and we ran a couple of plays this morning. It was really seeing how Greig was and Ali brings so much from the bench. Greig's kicking was important so we kept him on," Townsend added.
"We were much better this week. To get back into the game and to be much more accurate than last week was pleasing."
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Leinster player ratings vs Munster | 2024/25 URC
3
Jamal Ford-Robinson: 'In the gym we’re not lifting as frequently'
4
Nemani Nadolo: 'Now I cut grass, do gardens, cut hedges for a living'
5
Latest Comments
Yet Ethan Blackadder was one of our best against the World Champion Springbok. When he came back to the Crusaders later in the season , he made a huge difference, ( a long with others like Codie Taylor), we nearly made the Play Off's. Ethan has plenty of rugby left in him. His family , Dad Todd Blackadder must be very [proud of him. Todd Blackadder was a 3 time champion captain of the Crusaders, '98, '99 and 2000.An icon in this area. Also twice captain of Canterbury , '97 and 2001 when we won the NPC and Ranfurly Shield winning captain in 2000.
Go to commentsIt's the same criticism of Dmac and Mo'unga as well. Sadly the way the game has been heading recently it's the only way to break down a defence, and a player of Lawrences nature would have a very limited chance at doing that because he's too one dimensional.
Noah Lolesio is your sort of player and that worked OK, but only because his team is far more creative than Englands for example. The highly organized Irish attack was also another that didn't require much from the 10, but that is now changing with Prendergast who is in that league mold like the most new age 10's.
So it is in fact your two which would require even more change to make the most of than Marcus Smith.
Go to comments