Townsend singles out Scot vs 'one of the biggest challenges' in rugby

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has described facing France’s pack as “one of the biggest challenges in world rugby right now,” as they powered Les Bleus to a Guinness Six Nations title in Paris.

France may have run out comfortable 35-16 winners in the end of their round five clash, but they only led 16-13 heading into the break, with Scotland having all the momentum. But Fabien Galthie unleashed six of his seven forwards on the bench just minutes into the second half, as the hosts limited Scotland to only three more points in the match thereafter.

France’s ‘Le Bomb Squad’ flexed their muscles in round four of the Championship against Ireland, and Townsend said the visitors had to “not only withstand that challenge but be aggressive,” which they ultimately failed to do as the match wore on.

Townsend praised the performance of his forwards after the match, who needed to “deliver physically” and went on to produce what he described as “some of the best carrying I’ve seen”.

Second-row Gregor Brown, 23, was namechecked by his coach post-match, who was described as “fantastic” in his first Six Nations start.

Despite the final score, Townsend regarded the performance in Paris as one of Scotland’s two best performances of the Championship, alongside their encounter with England at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium, which also ended in defeat for his side.

He nevertheless saw “a lot to be proud of and a lot to build on” from this past Championship.

“We lost the game and we weren’t pushing at the end to win the game, but what we asked from the players tonight was to deliver physically,” the Scotland boss said.

“One of the biggest challenges in world rugby right now is the French pack, the Springboks are very similar, and then when you bring a new pack on, how you can not only withstand that challenge but be aggressive with the way that they play with a lot outside of nine, they bring their forwards into the game.

“Then when you flip it around, the way our forwards carried was some of the best carrying I’ve seen. Gregor Brown was fantastic. His first Six Nations start, did really well in attack and defence. Did really well in the set-piece. Zander [Fagerson], Pierre Schoeman, Matt Fagerson, so many players fronted up physically.

“We had some really good parts to our attacking game. We created things, and the effort was there throughout the 80 minutes.

“I loved right at the end, even though the game was lost there was a maul on our line and we were very physical and turned the ball over. There’s a lot to be proud of and a lot to build on.

“Strangely, our two best performances this year happened in defeats in England and to France, especially 80-minutes performances, but we can take a lot out of those two games as we move into next year and beyond.”