Gregor Townsend is stoked despite South American tour loss
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend told his players to hang on to the good feelings and progress from their South American tour after it ended with last-gasp disappointment.
Scotland were 15 points in front with half an hour left of the deciding Test against Argentina and still led when the clock hit 80 minutes.
However, Edinburgh winger Emiliano Boffelli snatched victory from the jaws of defeat for the Pumas when he crossed before kicking over to seal a 34-31 home win.
While conceding Test rugby was all about results, Townsend stressed the positives of their summer experience, with a number of younger players given opportunities amid the absence of the likes of Stuart Hogg, Finn Russell and Jamie Ritchie.
“What we have created here, we have got to make sure we save that in our minds,” Townsend said in a video on the Scottish Rugby Twitter account.
“How we got to this stage as a group off the field, I am so proud of them. They have come together, grown as a group and represented their country off the field outstandingly well.
“And shown on the field that they really care for each other. The way they defended the try line in the second Test, the way they put their bodies on the line for 80 minutes (on Saturday). These are attributes that are going to lead to success in the future.
“We will have a different group come November, we will have injuries and other players who weren’t on this tour to come back.
“We have got to make sure we are better for the experience.
“I believe we will be and some of these players who have been on this tour have a big future ahead of them.”
Duhan van der Merwe and Ewan Ashman both scored try doubles, but Argentina fought back and were given a lifeline when Scotland kicked a penalty towards the corner with 10 minutes remaining only for Jonny Gray to be held up over the try line.
Townsend said: “When you look at the 75-minute performance, let’s call it, to be able to start well in defence, to then build some phases in attack, to find our way to the try line, to score four tries over here with a new team, a young team, it was great to see them put that performance in.
“We know Argentina are an excellent side and at home they play with a lot of physicality.
“But we are about winning. Performances are something we will analyse as coaches and look to build on, but ultimately Test rugby is about winning and we didn’t find a way to win at the end when it was there for us.”
Townsend handed debuts to Glasgow full-back Ollie Smith and Edinburgh lock Glen Young.
“Ollie looked really comfortable at full-back,” he said. “He has been excellent on tour, worked really hard in training. He’s got big attributes to his game, with his ability to beat players, a strong left foot, and he showed that.
“Glen was very good when he came on – took the ball to the opposition, defended well.
“And a mention too to Ewan Ashman. A first start for his country and he scores in the corner, what a try for us, which got us ahead and we kicked on after that until the last two or three minutes.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments