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Welcome back Duncan Taylor, a creature so rare that fans must be wondering if he exists at all
Most welcome and most appetising in Scotland’s line-up for their first of four World Cup warm-up Tests is the start at No12 for Duncan Taylor, a creature so rare that fans must be wondering if he still exists at all.
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Taylor has endured a torturous spate of injuries these past few seasons – the nuanced and maddening menace of concussion, a back problem and two damaged knee ligaments – such that he has taken on an almost mythical status.
He hasn’t been seen on a rugby pitch in almost a year, and last played a Test match in June 2017. Watching Taylor walk out in France next Saturday night wearing a Scotland jersey will be like seeing a dodo strut down Princes Street.
A glorious sight it will be nonetheless, for Taylor is a supreme operator. Why else would Gregor Townsend select a player who last took the field in September 2018, while dropping two of Glasgow’s form men over the past two seasons in Nick Grigg and Kyle Steyn?
Why else would all-conquering Saracens have given Taylor a contract through to 2021 in spite of that heinous injury record?
BREAKING | Scotland team named to face France in this Saturday's opening Summer Test in Nice (kick-off 8pm BST) – live on Premier Sports #AsOne ????????? pic.twitter.com/HOKOzaA2Do
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) August 14, 2019
Taylor is a potentially massive asset to Scotland, a formidable specimen who can attack, defend and lead, and who possesses the precious quality of versatility. He will feature primarily as a centre, but can very comfortably step in at wing or full-back.
On that 2017 summer tour where he won his most recent caps, he played in all three positions. If he stays healthy – and given all that has befallen him, it is a big if – he might be asked to do the same in Japan.
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The Saracens man came through a bounce match against Edinburgh last week, but how his body and mind will cope with the rigours of the Test game is another matter.
There will be intrigue too around Rory Hutchinson, the Northampton Saints centre who took the Premiership by storm last season and will make his debut from the bench. As recently as December, Hutchinson was by his own admission “fighting for a job”, recovering from injury with a frugal haul of first-team appearances to his name.
He delivered a sensational response. From February to end of Saints’ Premiership campaign, Hutchinson scored four tries, contributed five assists, made 17 clean breaks and beat 36 defenders in 11 starts. Like Taylor, the 23-year-old has versatility on his side – he can play anywhere across the midfield axis – and a fine defensive game, a quality Townsend is understandably keen to see in his centres.
We might well see him introduced at 10 for Adam Hastings where he has served with distinction in the national age-grade sides and where he might put pressure on Pete Horne, Townsend’s preferred option as a second distributor who can plug several holes.
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In among all of the anticipation at Taylor’s great comeback and Hutchinson’s emergence, you have to feel for Grigg, an effervescent little buzz-bomb of a centre who started Scotland’s last three Tests, only to be jettisoned from the squad without a single crack at a warm-up match.
Granted, Grigg was fielded in the Six Nations in part because of injuries to Taylor and Huw Jones, but even as the tournament went on, he made noticeable strides in his tackling and defensive positioning. Steyn, too, blasted from nowhere to become one of Glasgow’s go-to men in their run to the PRO14 final – he, too, can cover the back-three.
Having Grigg and Steyn available for the early throes of the season will be a welcome boost for Glasgow at a time when they will be shorn of so much talent, but already the cold reality of elite rugby is being keenly felt. This is the first real opportunity for so many in the most fiercely contested areas of the squad to raise their hands.
The starting loosehead, Jamie Bhatti, is likely vying with Gordon Reid, the replacement, for a berth alongside first-choice Allan Dell. Bhatti has the stronger presence around the field; Reid is superior at the set-piece.
Ben Toolis, Jamie Ritchie and Josh Strauss face a monumental audition, for the back-five of the scrum is where Townsend can call upon a bountiful well of riches.
Can Strauss produce his best stuff over the course of 80 minutes, rather than rousing but fleeting bursts of carries? Toolis and Ritchie were two of Scotland’s top performers in the Six Nations, but with Sam Skinner, John Barclay and Hamish Watson fit again, and Jonny Gray hitting wonderful form at the end of the season, can they pick up where they left off?
????????? Voici votre équipe pour ce premier match de préparation à la Coupe du Monde samedi soir à Nice contre l’Écosse ! Allez les Bleus ! #NeFaisonsXV ! #FRAECO #RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/VQ5vdeKpJT
— France Rugby (@FranceRugby) August 15, 2019
Jones, too, must rediscover the sort of scintillating rugby he showed in his first two seasons, the blistering attack that earned him 10 tries in his first 16 Tests. He got injured two games into the Six Nations and in two years at Glasgow, has barely fired a shot.
He is a phenomenal weapon to wield on his game, but with the immense competition across midfield from Taylor, Horne, Hutchinson, Chris Harris and the outstanding Sam Johnson, his spot is far from secure.
The man with least to lose is Byron McGuigan, whose chances of ousting one of the star names from a probable back-three allocation of five looks slim. Stuart Hogg, Sean Maitland, Darcy Graham, Tommy Seymour and Blair Kinghorn are the strongest candidates, but Taylor’s versatility, fitness and form permitting, might allow Townsend to take one fewer.
‘You get to a ceiling and until you can break through it, it’s hard to keep improving… I need to get my players into better competitions’
– @GeorgianRugby boss @MiltonHaig tells @JLyall93 what is needed to lift them to the next level ?https://t.co/aNLvUp8X1M— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 14, 2019
McGuigan was excellent in the bedlam of Scotland’s roaring second-half comeback at Twickenham and will be next in line for the final cut if one of the top five goes down.
Scott Cummings, a late addition to the squad after a fantastic few months with Glasgow, will get his debut off the bench, and although he is the outsider among the locks, he has time to shake up the pecking order.
Cummings is a player in the Townsend mould – athletic, nimble, a clever footballer and a relentlessly hard worker. In Glasgow’s last four games of the season, and their run to the PRO14 final, he made 72 tackles and carried 79 metres with the ball in hand. At 22, Cummings is callow, but he has bucket-loads to offer.
The outcome at the weekend doesn’t carry the seismic importance of a Six Nations Test or tournament rugby, but it is significant nonetheless. Scotland last won in France 20 years ago.
Since the last World Cup, they have played 13 away Tests against tier one opposition and won four. Two of those victories came in the Six Nations, both against Italy. Another was a rout of a truly hapless Argentina in the death throes of Daniel Hourcade’s coaching reign and the most notable a fantastic win over Australia two years ago.
Scotland last won in Cardiff in 2002, in Dublin in 2010 and at Twickenham over 30 years ago, albeit they came mighty close in the mayhem of the final day of the Six Nations.
For all that Vern Cotter and then Townsend have made Scotland better – a team to be taken seriously – their away record is an abomination. For all that Saturday is about combinations and cohesion and men pressing their cases for a seat on the plane, it is also about a Scotland team showing they can go to France and win.
The selection quarrels in the bars and clubhouses can begin, the fantasy XVs meticulously constructed and so too the second-guessing of Townsend from Shetland to Selkirk. Suddenly, the road to Japan has a tangible feel.
WATCH: Part one of Operation Jaypan, the two-part RugbyPass documentary on what the travelling fans can expect to experience in Japan
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
81 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
3 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
26 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
3 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
3 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
13 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
5 Go to commentsI know Leinster did a job on La Roche but shortly after HT Leinster were 30-13 ahead of them and at a similar time Toulouse were trailing Exeter. At 60 mins Leinster were 27 ahead but after 67 mins Toulouse were only 19 ahead before Exeter collapsed. That’s heavier scoring by Leinster against the Champions. I think people are looking at Toulouses total a little too much. I also think Northhampton are in with a real chance, albeit I’d put Leinster as favourites. If Leinster make the final I expect them to win by more than ten and with control.
5 Go to commentsHey Nick, your match analysis is decent but the top and tail not so much, a bit more random. For a start there’s a seismic difference in regenerating any club side over a test team. EJ pretty much had to urinate with the appendage he’d been given at test level whereas club success is impacted hugely by the budget. Look no further than Boudjellal’s Toulon project for a perfect example. The set ups at La Rochelle and Leinster are like chalk and cheese and you are correct that Leinster are ahead. Leinster are not just slightly ahead though, they are light years ahead on their plans, with the next gen champions cup team already blooded, seasoned and developing at speed from their time manning the fort in the URC while the cream play CC and tests. They have engineered a strong talent conveyor belt into their system, supported by private money funnelled into a couple of Leinster private schools. The really smart move from Leinster and the IRFU however is maximising the Irish Revenue tax breaks (tax relief on the best 10 years earnings refunded at retirement) to help keep all of their stars in Ireland and happy, while simultaneously funding marquee players consistently. And of course Barrett is the latest example. But in no way is he a “replacement for Henshaw”, he’s only there for one season!!! As for Rob Baxter, the best advice you can give him is to start lobbying Parliament and HMRC for a similar state subsidy, but don’t hold your breath… One thing Cullen has been very smart with is his coaching team. Very quickly he realised his need to supplement his skills, there was talk of him exiting after his first couple of years but he was extremely shrewd bringing in Lancaster and now Nienaber. That has worked superbly and added a layer that really has made a tangible difference. Apart from that you were bang on the money… 😉😂
5 Go to commentsNot sure exactly what went wrong for him at Glasgow but it’s pretty clear he ain’t Franco’s cup of tea. Suspect he would have been better served heading out of Scotland around the same time as Finn, Hoggy and Jonny!
1 Go to commentsBulls disrespected the Northampton supporters and the competition. Decide quickly, fully in or out.
26 Go to commentsI wonder if Parling was ever on England’s radar as a coach? Obviously Borthwick is a great lineout coach, but I do worry he might be taking on too much as both head coach and forwards coach.
1 Go to commentsJason Jenkins has one cap. When Etzebeth was his age he had over 80 caps. Experience matters. He will never amount to what Etzebeth has because he hasn’t been developed as an international player.
2 Go to commentsSays much about the player picking this gig over the easier and bigger rewards offered to him in Japan. Also says a lot about the state sanctioned tax benefits the Irish Revenue offers pro rugby players, with their ten highest earning years subject to an additional 40% tax relief and paid as a lump sum, in cash, at retirement. Certainly helps Leinster line up the financial ducks in a row to fund marquee signings like this!!! No other union anywhere in world rugby benefits from this kind of lucrative financial sponsorship from their government…
5 Go to commentsTrue Jordie could earn a lot more in Japan. But by choosing Leinster he’ll be playing with 1 of the best clubs in the world and can win a champions cup and URC…..
6 Go to comments