Beattie gives word of caution to Townsend doubters amid growing unrest

Johnnie Beattie has told Gregor Townsend’s doubters to be careful what they wish for as he stressed that Scotland’s current status within the world game should not be taken for granted.

In the wake of Sunday’s demoralising 32-18 defeat by Ireland, there has been fresh debate among supporters and pundits about the future of the long-serving head coach, who is contracted until the end of next year’s Six Nations.

The Scots finished in the bottom two in eight of the 11 campaigns prior to Townsend’s appointment in 2017 and have finished third or fourth in six of the seven championships under the current head coach, who has also presided over two World Cup pool-stage exits.

While some feel Townsend has taken Scotland as far as he can over his near-eight-year reign, former back-rower Beattie – who won 38 caps between 2006 and 2015 – believes the 51-year-old deserves more appreciation for elevating the team to a level where they can even be spoken of as potential title contenders rather than wooden spoon fodder.

“I think people have short memories and I’m not sure if people remember my generation, maybe the 5-10 years that I played for Scotland and what we produced,” Beattie told the BBC’s Scotland Rugby Podcast.

“We were utterly rubbish. We won nothing. I can laugh now looking back but it must have been so tedious for people to come to Murrayfield and watch us.

“What we’ve had under Gregor has been fun rugby. It hasn’t always been winning rugby but it’s entertaining.

“We score tries, we’re more creative than we’ve ever been, we’ve beaten France, we’ve beaten England, we’ve beaten Australia, we’ve beaten Wales away from home; things that my side never did.

“What would people rather have? Who would you rather have as a Scottish rugby public, Steve Borthwick? Would you rather have that type of rugby? Would you rather have Warren Gatland and what he’s produced with Wales?

“I think (Townsend’s) win percentage is better than most other Scottish coaches historically, so people have incredibly short memories.

“I know the weekend was horrible to watch. But Gregor actually doesn’t have a big player pool, doesn’t have a bunch of physical animals. We’ll always be on an uphill battle with the numbers we have when we’re playing against South Africa, England.

“We have a really shallow pool of talent and I think actually he’s gotten a lot out of the players that we have over the past five, six, seven seasons. So look, (Sunday) was disappointing but also be careful what you wish for.”

Gatland left the Wales hotseat this week after 14 straight Test defeats and Glasgow coach Franco Smith, who has also been touted as a future Scotland head coach, has been linked with the vacancy.

Beattie is keen to see the South African remain within Scottish Rugby’s system.

“It’d be a shame to see him head down to Wales,” said the 39-year-old. “If you took Gatland and put him now in the Scotland hotseat, I think Scotland would be considerably worse.

“Wales are in dire straits, they need a change absolutely. I’m really intrigued to see who comes in there.

“I don’t want it to be Franco Smith. I love the success that Glasgow have had, the URC win, the brand of rugby they’ve played and I hope Scottish Rugby make a massive effort to retain him, to protect what has happened at Warriors over the past two, three seasons.”