Townsend: Saracens relegation will make or break England
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend believes Saracens’ imminent Premiership relegation will either galvanise rivals England or cause divisions in their squad during the Guinness Six Nations.
Gallagher Premiership champions Sarries, who have seven players in Eddie Jones’ squad, were last week punished following a breach of salary cap rules.
Scotland welcome England to Murrayfield on February 8 during the second round of fixtures and Townsend admits to being unsure how their opponents will be affected by the situation.
“Who knows? Sometimes things like this bring a group closer together – as you saw in the second half at the weekend of the Saracens-Racing game, it brought them closer together,” said Townsend.
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WATCH: Andy Goode and Brendan Venter didn’t hold back on this weeks pod as they discussed Saracens and the salary cap scandal.
“A lot of those players will be in the England team and going through adversity, coming up against certain challenges, it can make you stronger, or it can go the other way.
“We’ll see over the next few weeks.”
Townsend’s own 38-man squad includes Saracens wing Sean Maitland.
The 46-year-old admits it has been difficult period for Maitland, as well as Sarries team-mate Duncan Taylor, who travelled to last year’s World Cup but has been left out for the Six Nations.
“It’s a surprise for everyone that something like this has happened in rugby and it’s a huge change,” said Townsend.
“It provides lots of commentaries and articles.
“We’ve got a few players at Saracens – Sean Maitland and Duncan Taylor were in our World Cup squad – so I imagine it’s been a tough, challenging time for them over the last few weeks.
“But our focus is on the international group, the players we work with.
“Sean is part of our squad but obviously the English Premiership hasn’t got much relevance for us as a national team.”
Townsend’s men begin the tournament on February 1 against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Aside from winning against Italy in Rome, the Scots have not managed a Six Nations away victory since beating the Irish at Croke Park in 2010.
Townsend says ending that dismal run of form away from Murrayfield is a major priority going into the tournament.
“They’re difficult because teams are very good and teams have excellent home records,” he said of securing away victories.
“Ireland have lost one (home) game in the championship in the last five years, so that just shows how difficult it is for any team to win away from home.
“You have to be at your very best, you have to stay in the fight, you can’t give the opposition easy points, you can’t get the crowd even more energised than it is.
“We’ve got to be better, we know that, that’s a key focus for us.
“Starting with an away game this year – even though it’s a really tough challenge – is the best preparation for us to see where we are, see if we have learnt over they last few years of how we can do better away from home and what we have to work on after that.”
PA
Comments on RugbyPass
Sounds like quite a bit of development has occurred regarding Mo’unga’s situation. Either NZR has stepped up their offer (big time) or RMo has had a reality check on what it will be like to be outside of the high performance environment of AB rugby. Maybe both. It reads like there are only a few remaining details to be sorted out before it is a done deal.
1 Go to commentsCurrently, a prop that has been substituted can go back on field if his original replacement gets injured. Can a red carded prop go back if his replacement gets injured, or will it be uncontested scrums?
11 Go to commentsWhat about a free kick from a scrum? Can you call another scrum? Or are they just giving straight penalties now?
28 Go to commentsLoved that comment by Andrew that the ‘water boys’ rule was changed in 2020 just to stymie the Boks!
28 Go to commentsOne of the best the Boks have ever produced. PSDT has an engine that goes non-stop for the full 80 min.
5 Go to commentsThe real deal.
5 Go to commentsIt’s been said that Nienaber will head back to SA too before next World Cup , hoarding all the amazing IP gained in Irish system … get a grip … Irish system needs to Milk the likes of Barrett . First time a leading all Black in his prime has gone to Ireland for any period of time . Enjoy it .
20 Go to comments20 min RC is the only good solution of a bunch of bad solutions. Ridiculous that it has taken this long and caused so many uneven contests. In general these are all very good changes - one is surprised that NH brokers were able to see sense at long last.
11 Go to comments“While a red card will mean a temporary team disadvantage, the replacement system will focus punishment on the offending player instead of disrupting the game itself.” This might work for amateur rugby, where players just want to be on the pitch for as long as possible, but hopefully we’ve got to a point where top level professionals care about the success of their team much more than about whether they personally are on the pitch or not.
11 Go to commentsa lot of focus on the targeting of south africa, but aspects of this are positive. The croc roll; the offside law; and time limits on set pieces are all good. calling for a mark off kick offs is baffling, but I guess we’ll see how it plays out in practice
28 Go to commentsSpeeding the game up is great, but I think we will find that the increase in viewership this year mostly comes down to the competition being more competitive…the fall of the Crusaders has been a boon for viewership. This should be at the heart of super rugby changes - how to make the comp more even
23 Go to commentsThe fact that the press were largely to blame for his taking a break is nothing short of disgusting. He’s made a few mistakes but difficult to name a player of any substance who gives it a full go hasn’t also made mistakes? On behalf of a large number of Bokke fans, bring back Farrell !!!!!
1 Go to commentsPSTD is a fantastic flanker. He could benefit from a bit of self-promotion / flair and he is not quite the danger man that Ardie is. That said, he is my 1st pick to build a backrow around. His speed and hustle made up for Duane who got quite a bit slower at the 8.
5 Go to commentssurprised, disco lights haven't been banned by world rugby board
28 Go to commentsToo many changes. Too often. I’m tired of this WR administration. How do we vote these fockers out? Bill needs to go.
28 Go to commentsDu Toit, 2 time W.Cup winner yet rarely mentioned a “Great “…if one looks back on his stellar carrier perhaps someone will one day elevate him to “Richie” status…a quiet, polite yet devastating loose forward that knew action speaks louder than words..
5 Go to commentsI like the offside rule, but this won't affect my team because all their kicks gets chased and that putts everyone on side. Lekker manne!
28 Go to comments20 minute Red Card is untenable. If you don’t punish the whole team, coaches won’t be sufficently incentivised to pick players with, or coach better tackle technique.
11 Go to commentsI can only think of One time ever a team has opted for a scrum from a free kick… Why the law change I wonder
28 Go to commentsYeah, its not going to work. But we see you World Rugby.
28 Go to comments