'We had five Lions not in our starting team... we have depth'

Gregor Townsend was heartened by the sight of buoyant Scotland soaring to an emphatic Nations Championship triumph in Argentina without talisman Finn Russell and a string of his fellow back-line big hitters.

Sione Tuipulotu, Pierre Schoeman, Rory Hutchinson, Gregor Brown, Scott Cummings, debutant Gregor Hiddleston and Kyle Rowe all crossed the line in a stunning seven-try 47-38 victory for the Scots over a Pumas side ranked two places above them in Cordoba.

Townsend was keen to point out that the win was achieved in the absence of British and Irish Lions quartet Russell, Huw Jones, Duhan van der Merwe and and Blair Kinghorn, while Darcy Graham, their record try-scorer, only entered the fray for the final quarter.

The on-song Scots were also missing forward mainstays like George Turner, Grant Gilchrist and Jamie Ritchie as they made it four wins in six Tests this calendar year.

“I’ve said before, our depth in our squad is at a really high level now and you can see that in our back-line,” said the head coach. “We had five Lions not in our starting team when you think of Finn, Huw, Blair, Darcy and Duhan, who were all on the Lions tour last summer.

“The other players came in and did a great job and have been doing great for their clubs and for us in the Six Nations.

“It gives you real confidence that if you have to go into a campaign with injuries, or in a World Cup, that we have depth. But also, the competition brings the best out of players.

“I know Darcy, Duhan, Blair, Huw, guys that weren’t playing, will be looking at the performances of the players saying, ‘right, I have to play my very best to play for Scotland’. That’s what you want to create and what you want to see as a coach.”

Scotland, seventh in the world, have now toppled three teams ranked above them – England, France and Argentina – in their last five matches.

Townsend is heartened by the way they are playing, but knows they will need to be at their very best to have any chance of pulling off a first-ever away win over world champions South Africa in Pretoria on Saturday.

“In the first half we took a while to get possession but when we did, I thought we were really clinical,” said Townsend. “I thought a couple of the tries were up there with some of the best tries we’ve scored.

“Beyond the tries, there was a lot of work that went in around the set-piece that just set us up to play in the back-line.

“Our scrum was good, and the work around our contact – whether in attack or defence – those are the big elements, the fundamentals in Test rugby, so it was really pleasing.

“Next week is going to be a real tough challenge, but we can go there knowing that our game is in place but with a few things still to improve.”