Townsend and McGeechan discuss all things Scotland ahead of a pivotal year
Ahead of a vital autumn for Scotland as they continue to build towards the Rugby World Cup next year, Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend caught up with Telegraph Sport columnist and his former coach Sir Ian McGeechan to discuss the side’s development, leaving out star fly-half Finn Russell, choosing a new captain and why rugby should ditch the jackal.
Gregor Townsend: How are you doing? You’re looking well.Sir Ian McGeechan: I miss the coaching, if I’m honest. I still like watching games, looking for edges. I chat on a reasonably regular basis with Pat Lam [at Bristol] and I quite like that, we can talk about tactics as you and I have done in the past, having conversations about where the game might go, which I still enjoy.I have to ask you about Finn Russell – is the door open for him to come back?GT: Yeah, look, obviously you would prefer to talk about the players who are in the squad who have earned their opportunity in our view. We see a lot in Blair [Kinghorn] and Adam [Hastings] this season more than the last, we really think Adam has learned from that first season at Gloucester and built very well.Finn, by contrast, hasn’t been in his best form – the last few games for Racing were much better – but we’re rewarding form and consistency, players that we see can continue to improve, and at times you have to make some decisions which means people are not involved.
IM: One of the things in the past with Scotland has been there’s a very good player in one position and then a drop-off behind them. But it seems there is genuinely more depth through the majority of positions, which makes selection more difficult, but it does give you tactical flexibility having Cam Redpath back. Do these promising players change your tactical approach?GT: Absolutely. We select players who embody what we want to see, how we want to approach our attack and defence. They drive it. There is more depth, it’s relative to other countries as well. You look at England, Ireland, Wales, France and increasingly Italy, they’ve really improved their depth. From a Scottish perspective, if we pick up injuries now there are players who will step in that are equally as good or who will think they are better than those originally picked.That is both a positive and a challenge at times, because you certainly want to build cohesion at Test level and the games we have coming up, you want that core team to play as much together as possible. We can’t control that with injuries, form would be a reason to change, but it might mean players miss out.
Our autumn campaign, we have four very tough games, but we’re very pleased with the squad we have. Your coaching and meetings with players before coming into camps are tactical, but off the field it is about chemistry, about how the group feels safe, having commitment and love for their fellow players. How, once they come in here, they feel they can contribute in meetings, or put an arm around a team-mate and tell them they’re better than that and we have to improve. That helps coaches massively when you have another 30, 40 players driving the things you want to see in a group.IM: The game has changed a lot in the past 20 years and players approach it in different ways, but I have always believed there is a basic principle which doesn’t go with a new player coming in and someone coming across and putting an arm round them. That comes back to your own experiences.Going back to the black and white days of my time as a player, when I won my first Scotland cap it was Alastair McHarg as soon as I walked through the hotel who came over and bought me a drink. You had the immediate feeling that you were being brought into a group, that you could say things. That doesn’t go away. If a player feels he has support or can do something and others will react and follow, you get the collective emotional strength. You don’t have to look behind you – you know your team-mates are there. It’s inside you. And I felt that as a player and a coach, putting things in place so there was an understanding. If you have that environment it brings so much out of you.With Scotland, they always seem to be good when the game is quicker and slightly broken-up. Do you still think that’s important?GT: One hundred per cent, and we need to have strategies to pick up the pace of the game too. We have to break up the game against sides with more of a set-piece orientated game. On the other side, we have to make sure our set-piece and dealing with stoppages in games, that we adapt and thrive there. Test rugby you need very good maul defence and have to take your opportunities with your own maul. Certain teams you face, it’s harder to break up the game than against others. But there’s certainly an intent to play at speed and the encouraging thing watching the Rugby Championship in the summer was all those teams, even South Africa, have moved to playing a quicker game. And the matches in the United Rugby Championship and Gallagher Premiership are much more open. It poses challenges for defences, but should also play to our strengths.Can I ask what the tactical trends are that you have seen recently?IM: I still put a stopwatch on players getting into position who arrive late, when there is space to attack with the way teams fold in defensively. I remember conversations we had when you were playing about looking for the space and beating the opposition to it, overloading the outside channels and linking to them, force defences to change their shape because you put something different in front of them. Scotland’s recent wins over England have come down to the game accelerating and the players being beaten to that space.GT: You have definitely influenced me over the years, because what you are saying about speed and space is part of our philosophy with Scotland. I think teams are now exploring that more, having maybe before relied on not having the ball to win games of rugby.