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Gregor Townsend believes Scotland's squad is stronger than ever
Gregor Townsend insists Scotland have never been stronger as they prepare to jet out for the World Cup at almost full strength.
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Only the injured Sam Skinner and Toulouse lock Richie Gray – who turned down the chance to win a seat on the plane to Japan – were not available to the Dark Blues coach as he named his 31-man squad.
Townsend’s team have one final hurdle to overcome on Friday night as they complete their warm-up schedule against Georgia at Murrayfield.
But he will reduce the risk of picking up any last-minute bumps and bruises by handing a number of unlucky candidates who were overlooked for the tournament a consolation run-out against the Lelos.
And he believes with the majority of his top performers fit, Scotland’s jet out in rude health.
He said: “Success would be playing to our best. Playing to our potential has been our aim from the start.
“We know and we’ve seen it as when we play to our best we are a match for any team in the world.
“How we defended and attacked against the top teams in the world we have won those games.
“We have a stronger squad now than we’ve ever had. We’ve never been in a better position over the last few years to play at our best.”
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Townsend has opted to select Stuart McInally ahead of former captains Grieg Laidlaw and John Barclay to lead the team out for their opener with Ireland in Yokohama on September 22.
But the major news surrounds his decision to leave out both Glasgow centre Huw Jones and his midfield rival from Northampton Rory Hutchinson.
Jones burst onto the Test scene with nine tries in his first 14 appearances for the Dark Blues but in the 18 months since he scored a sensational double in the 2018 Calcutta Cup win over England, his form for club and country has dropped off considerably.
And Townsend admitted a lack of experience had counted against Hutchinson despite the 23-year-old making a late bid for selection with a brace on his first Scotland start during Saturday’s win in Tbilisi.
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With fit-again Saracens centre Duncan Taylor and Sam Johnson of Warriors the leading duo to start in the midfield, Townsend has opted to take Peter Horne – who can also fill in at 10 – and Chris Harris as cover.
Townsend said: “Rory came very close, both him and Huw were debated for a long while on the flight back from Georgia.
“Rory did very well on Saturday night, he was comfortable on the ball but just missed out as he’s not had enough international experience.
“Both Rory and Huw are similar in terms of not having enough games at international level to force their way into the squad.
“Huw hasn’t had enough games playing well, or playing at all over the last few months.
“He’s looked in unbelievable shape in training but we haven’t seen enough in the game-and-a-half he’s had with us to get himself into that final squad.
“We know he’s on his way back to his best form but it just wasn’t enough.”
Prop Jamie Bhatti has paid the price for his failure to impress during the five-try mauling inflicted upon his side by France in Nice, while forwards Josh Strauss, Matt Fagerson and Magnus Bradbury also miss out, with Scarlets number eight Blade Thomson selected on the basis he can also slot into the second row if necessary.
Lock Bradbury has not featured at all during the Scots’ three warm-up clashes so far due to a rib injury and his lack of action has cost him his place, even though fellow second-rower Jonny Gray and hooker Fraser Brown have both made the cut despite having also sat out the double-header with France and last weekend’s Tbilisi triumph through injury.
Hooker Grant Stewart and Sale wing Byron McGuigan are the others left disappointed.
Townsend added: “We really like our squad, it’s a combination of experience and youth. There are a lot of leaders there who have captained Scotland in successful games.
“We have players who lead in certain areas of our game. WP Nel is an experienced player, Jonny Gray, Finn Russell – they are all experienced players.
“We look at the vice captains, John Barclay and Greig Laidlaw and that’s really encouraging for us as coaches to know that we have leaders.”
– Press Association
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Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
36 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to comments