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Kinghorn and Graham return as Scotland drop star for Wallabies
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'I think it's even worse': Four Scotland talking points ahead of Wallabies
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After warning his Scotland side in the immediate aftermath of last Saturday’s dispiritingly familiar defeat by New Zealand that no player would be considered sacrosanct when it came to potential changes to face Australia, in the event Gregor Townsend opted to make just two changes to his starting line-up.
Two members of what not so long ago were considered his go-to back three – Blair Kinghorn and Darcy Graham – are back in favour (the third, Duhan van der Merwe, remains on the outside looking in) with Kyle Rowe and Jamie Dobie the men to make way.
If Dobie’s demotion is softened by a place among the replacements, where his ability to cover scrum-half and wing makes him a priceless asset in a six-two bench split, the unfortunate Rowe has missed out on the 23 altogether.
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The pack which started against the All Blacks is given a chance, somewhat surprisingly, to redeem themselves en bloc, with a new face in Ollie Leatherbarrow – he would be the 85th debutant of Townsend’s nine-and-a-half-year reign – waiting to spring from the bench.
Here are four takeaways after the head coach sat down with the media to discuss his selection and what he expects from a Wallabies side who his teams have triumphed over in the four of their five meetings during his tenure.
Graham ‘in a very good place’ while Kinghorn ‘attitude’ impresses
Graham, Scotland’s top try-scorer with 38 in his 57 caps, has only had one 60-minute outing this season for Edinburgh, against Toulon on 16 October, and came into camp nursing a minor calf niggle, which precluded him from training with Scotland and playing for his club against Benetton on 31 October.
That clearly counted against him in preparations for the New Zealand game – “we didn’t really consider him”, Townsend said – despite being declared fully fit and training with the squad.
But as with Kinghorn, who started Toulouse’s last two games before the November international window after a month out rehabbing his own issues, Townsend has seen enough in training to believe both deserve to return to their former status.
“Once we opened up discussion around Jamie [Dobie] being the 6-2 bench spot covering scrum-half and wing, then we looked at the back three and how well Darcy’s trained, how well Blair has trained too. But also where Darcy is right now, he’s in a very good place and we can’t wait to see him play. He trained really well last week. We’ve done a lot of work with the back three on the aerial contest and he’s done really well.
“Blair had to go back and play for Toulouse in between [the initial training week and the All Blacks game] but he turned up and trained after playing a Sunday night game. I’m really impressed with his attitude and his quality of training.
“That just factors into selection. We know there’s a lot of competition in that back three, a lot at 15. Blair ended the Six Nations in really good form, when I think back to the France and Ireland games. Kyle Rowe played very well on tour. Now Blair’s getting an opportunity this week and Darcy gets an opportunity on how he’s trained and how he’s played for the team in the past.”
Defusing Sua’ali’i aerial threat key for Scotland
That ‘aerial game’ the back-three have been working on is likely to take on even greater importance given the forecast for Sunday’s game, with a 90 per cent chance of heavy rain hitting Murrayfield.
“I just messaged our analyst and said, ‘Has it changed?’ And he went ‘Yeah, I think it’s even worse’,” Townsend quipped when asked about the forecast. “Look, if it’s going to be wet, I think both teams who like to move the ball realise defence is going to be very important, your decision-making around the use of possession is going to be important, but you’ve got to play physical rugby, you’ve got to be very good in the transitions if there’s more kicking, so we’ll adapt.”
Given the likely conditions, expect the Wallabies to direct plenty of high kicks in the vicinity of Joseph-Aukuso Su’uali’i, who has shifted back to outside centre from the wing station he has occupied for three of the Wallabies’ last four Tests.
“In the centre he brings an additional threat aerially and likely he’ll get on more ball at 13 than he’s maybe been getting on the wing,” Townsend noted. “It’s a quality Australian team that want to play ambitious rugby.
“We’ll see how that transpires if it is poor weather. If it is going to be wet, he’s going to be the guy we believe who’s going to be going up for the contestable kicks and he’s excellent. He had two or three early on in the game against England.
“We have to find out where the areas are for us to attack and that might not be anywhere near him, but we’ll certainly keep an eye on how he’s performing back at 13.”
Bayliss ‘close to start’ but could he be Scotland’s own Pollock?
Only five of Josh Bayliss’ 19 Scotland caps to date have been in a starting role, but such has been the Bath back-rower’s impact off the bench in recent Tests, he is now pushing hard for more regular, sustained action.
Townsend said he was “very close” to a start against Australia – he has played mostly at six and eight for Bath this season – with his all-round skillset a major boon.
“Josh was excellent off the bench again last week,” Townsend said. “He has been really good for us. He’s a lineout forward. He’s someone that adds real pace and he’s hard to defend at times because he has footwork and evasion.
“If you just look at his performance in isolation, you’d say, ‘yeah, he deserves to start’ but we’ve also got to look at our back row. It was out first Test match of the season; Matt Fagerson hadn’t played for a month, Jack Dempsey had only played one pre-season game. We believe they’ll be better after this week. Matt had cramp too, so we don’t expect that to be a factor this week because he’s had that one game.
“On the flip side, Josh’s role off the bench is really important for us. He scored a great try in this fixture [against Australia] a couple of years ago. He came off the bench in Wales this year and was excellent. [Against] South Africa, excellent. The weekend, excellent. It’s not necessarily you play well and you’re suddenly starting but what you’re doing is probably earning more minutes off the bench. He can really help us in that second half.”
If Jamie Dobie is pressed into action early should scrum-half Ben White pick up an injury, Bayliss could even be deployed on the wing, a position he regularly trains in with his club, raising the possibility of a hybrid Henry Pollock-type role on Sunday.
Nations Championship
North
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
France
4
3
1
0
17
2
England
4
3
1
0
15
3
Ireland
4
3
1
0
15
4
Scotland
4
2
2
0
11
5
Wales
4
2
2
0
10
6
Italy
4
0
4
0
0
South
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
South Africa
4
4
0
0
20
2
New Zealand
4
4
0
0
20
3
Australia
4
1
3
0
8
4
Argentina
4
1
3
0
7
5
Japan
4
1
3
0
5
6
Fiji
4
0
4
0
0
“I’d say we’ve got two options before,” Townsend added. “Tom Jordan can play full-back and Blair [Kinghorn] can go on the wing. That would be probably a more straightforward selection. But if we did have to go into a third-choice back, then Josh is clearly the guy that can go there.”
Leatherbarrow versatility gave him nod on bench
Most seasoned observers could already name 26 or 27 of Scotland’s likely 33-man World Cup squad. It is a largely settled group but as ever, the intrigue will be in the final half-dozen spots, with competition hottest in the back three, second row and back row.
The auditions for the latter continue on Sunday with versatile Newcastle Red Bulls forward poised for his Test debut off the bench.
The 24-year-old enjoyed a breakthrough season in a losing side last year, starting 13 of his 15 matches, eight of them at No.8. Starts have been harder to come by this term with only two – one at seven, one at six – so far. The rest of his eight outings have been as an impact replacement, the role he will be deployed in on Sunday.
“He’s fitted in really well,” Townsend said. “What you look for in a player coming in is to do their homework, get up to speed with language and the system and then when you see them training, are they not only aligned with what we want to do but are they contributing positively? We’ve seen that with Ollie. That’s sometimes difficult coming into a new team but it’s credit to him that he’s been on top of everything and the 6-2 gives us an opportunity because he can cover all three positions. We feel the impact he can make both sides of the ball can really help us, whenever it is in the game.”
Townsend might have deployed either of Edinburgh’s in-form flankers, Liam McConnell and Freddy Douglas, for different, specialist, reasons – and both may get a chance to show their wares against Japan next Saturday.
But Leatherbarrow’s ability to cover all three positions means he gets a crack at showing he can grab what may be one of only six back-row spots available in the World Cup party, with Bayliss and the currently injured Jamie Ritchie front-runners to fill two of them alongside the established trio of Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge and Jack Dempsey.
“Ollie’s direct and I think more in the mould of Jack Dempsey. We know having played a lot of openside too, we need a presence around the breakdown.
“For those reasons, the blend of the back row, the fact that we know he’s going to carry hard, he’s going to be looking for opportunities, then that’s probably got him the nod over someone like Freddy. Obviously, he’s excellent over the ball too.”
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