'You guys set the narrative but that’s not really relevant for our team'

Gregor Townsend insisted he will not allow the ongoing scrutiny of his position as Scotland head coach to distract him from the task of trying to regain the Calcutta Cup on Saturday.

The 52-year-old has been the subject of intense criticism and calls for him to quit or be sacked after a dismal 18-15 defeat by Italy in last Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations opener.

Townsend, who dismissed any notion of stepping down at his post-match press conference in Rome, said on Thursday that the backlash has not affected his focus in the lead-up to Saturday’s Murrayfield showdown with England.

“To be honest, it’s only really on days like this where you have to experience it because it’s such a busy job,” said Townsend, facing the media in Edinburgh.

“You fill every minute of the day with reviewing what we could have done better, going into selection, going into training. It’s part of the job, part of losing.

“The feeling of losing is worse than the distraction around when people are giving their opinions to the group or to me as a coach.

“If we take Tonga out (a 56-0 win), the last two results against Italy and Argentina have been disappointing. That opens up opportunities for criticising the team, criticising the coach, I get that.

“It’s not good enough from our perspective, but we didn’t win those games and we’re hugely disappointed and that’s what we’re working to rectify.”

Asked if a positive result against England could change the narrative, the embattled Townsend said: “I don’t know. You guys (the media) set the narrative but that’s not really relevant for our team.

“What’s relevant is us working to produce and deliver a performance that our supporters can be proud of and one that can lead to a win.”

Townsend’s impressive record against England – they have lifted the Calcutta Cup in six of the last eight years – has been arguably the most positive aspect of his nine-year reign.

“It’s our biggest game of the season,” he said. “It’s even more important on the back of a disappointing defeat.

“But we’ve been really proud of the performances over the years. Even last year (a 16-15 defeat at Twickenham), I thought was arguably up there with 2023’s performance (a 29-23 win at Twickenham).”

Townsend has made four changes to his pack, with hooker Ewan Ashman, loosehead Pierre Schoeman, second-rower Grant Gilchrist and back-rower Matt Fagerson replaced by George Turner, Nathan McBeth, Gregor Brown and Jamie Ritchie respectively.

In a selection featuring no Edinburgh players in the XV for the first time since 1998, the high-profile back-three trio of Blair Kinghorn, Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe are again omitted, albeit Graham has kept his place on the bench.

Kinghorn, despite being one of Scotland’s main players in recent years, has returned to his club Toulouse and could be involved in their Top 14 match at Stade Francais on Sunday.

“Every exile player has to go back on a Wednesday unless there’s been something agreed,” said Townsend. “I was exchanging messages with (head coach) Ugo Mola a couple of days ago.

“He doesn’t know if he’ll select him this week, but he’s obviously available for them.

“It was a difficult decision going into the Italy game not involving Duhan, Darcy and Blair, three quality players. But the three that got selected ahead (Tom Jordan, Kyle Steyn, Jamie Dobie) were in really good form.

“And then with the limited chances they got in Rome, I felt they all played well.”