1
Townsend explains how relations can be mended with Hogg and co
Scotland boss Gregor Townsend believes it will be possible to have a positive long-term relationship with the likes of Stuart Hogg – despite last weekend’s breach of team discipline by the skipper and five other players.
ADVERTISEMENT
The skipper Hogg, Finn Russell, Ali Price, Darcy Graham, Sam Johnson and Sione Tuipulotu all visited an Edinburgh bar last weekend without the permission of team management and the story that they were disciplined for this excursion broke on Friday afternoon, the day before Scotland played Ireland in Dublin in their closing match of the 2022 Guinness Six Nations.
Hogg, Graham, Johnson and Price were still all named in the Scotland XV to start against the Irish in the round five match, with Russell dropped to the bench and Tuipulotu, a sub in Italy, omitted from the matchday 23.
Post-game, Townsend was keen on focusing on how proud he was of his Scotland team despite their 5-26 defeat to Ireland, but the repeated line of questioning at his Saturday evening media briefing was about what had taken place last weekend after the Scots had travelled home from their round four win over Italy in Rome.
Scotland hadn’t conducted any media sessions since the controversy broke on Friday afternoon, so it was naturally the hottest post-game topic at the Aviva Stadium and after Hogg had explained that he had apologised for something that will hurt him for a long time, it was the turn of an uncomfortable Townsend to take questions on the delicate subject.
The Scottish boss initially tried to deflect the heat. “You are disappointed with a number of things… things that you can control, whatever it is, how you speak to the players, things that you are disappointed with the referee, disappointed with the way the team trained of played that day. Things happen.
“Obviously what happened on Sunday was disappointing. So was today’s result, but in groups, in families, you have these moments where you can choose to come together, learn from it and I believe that is what the team did throughout this week, the way they trained, they fronted up today.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I know rightly you will be talking about the result and that is the main thing when you play international rugby, but I saw a performance today that was better than most of our performances this year, certainly the way we started the game and then the second half wasn’t good enough to win the game, but I was proud of what the team did following that incident.”
That answer wasn’t at all enough to prevent follow-up queries which further discomforted the Scotland boss. “Look, I think we have had a statement already about this. It’s a private matter, private discussions and a decision we made within the group, and anything on the back is just gossip so we move on.
“We have moved on from that and there is nothing more to say. Nobody was ejected from the squad. We dealt with it in-house and had our best training week of the championship.
“As we mentioned, it was an incident that has been dealt with in the guidelines and as Stuart mentioned, he apologised to the group, so that is all I am going to say on it. I’m not going into details about something that happened with our group. It will be a long story.
ADVERTISEMENT
“As I mentioned, things happen in groups, rugby-related or non-rugby-related. It’s what happens once you have an incident – that [incident] is too strong a word. But it’s something that happened and I was delighted with the reaction of the group and how we focused on our task building into the game and how we played.”
What, though, might the controversy do for the relationship Townsend has as the Scotland coach with his skipper Hogg? “If you want a relationship with someone it’s all about the sufferance and if something bad has happened or you have done something bad on the person that you are working with, then it’s not going to be a positive relationship.
“But if you have got one-on-one conversations over certain subjects that are tough, then you are going to have a positive relationship in the long term.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 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
4 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 comments