Gregor Townsend is adamant Scotland are equipped to go toe-to-toe with any side they encounter at the upcoming World Cup after giving formidable France another fright on Saturday.
The Scots lost 30-27 to Les Bleus in front of a partisan home support in stifling Saint-Etienne heat, a week after they defeated Fabien Galthie’s side 25-21 at Murrayfield.
Both of those warm-up matches involved rousing fightbacks from Townsend’s team, as was also the case in their Six Nations meeting in Paris in February when the visitors recovered from 19-0 down to close within four points of their hosts before a late French try secured a 32-21 win.
Given France are ranked second in the world and joint-favourites alongside New Zealand to win the tournament on home soil this autumn, the way Scotland have competed against Les Bleus this year has enhanced their head coach’s belief that his team are ready to vie for qualification from a heavyweight World Cup pool that also includes world champions South Africa and the world’s top-ranked side, Ireland.
“We’re fit enough, we’ve got the game and we’ve got the players to take on any team we come up against, and this was a preparation for what is likely to happen in the World Cup: noisy atmospheres, powerful forwards, especially when we play South Africa, and hot conditions,” said Townsend.
“Our players thrived in that environment. There were elements where we can improve and that will come, and it has come because we’ve seen improvement right throughout the season.
“Our belief has been shaken at times in games, but against France the belief was there. Whether it was as individuals or collectively, we knew we were coming back.
“It is a big disappointment that we didn’t get anything out of that game whether it is a draw or a win.
“We know if that was a World Cup match we’d be sitting here absolutely gutted, but it is a build-up to the World Cup so there are lots of positives out of that performance.”
Scotland made a strong start to lead 10-6 at the half-hour mark and then staged a stunning fightback from 27-10 down to level the match at 27-27 before Thomas Ramos – who kicked 15 of France’s points – sealed a narrow win with a late penalty.
On a night when the visitors outscored their hosts by four tries to three, Scotland were effectively left to rue a 29th minute yellow card for Ali Price and a disastrous start to the second half as the French ran in two tries within four minutes of the restart.
“That’s one way to look at it,” said Townsend when asked how he can eliminate such costly phases of drop-off from Scotland. “The other way to look at it is these top teams are going to have their moments and they are going to score points.
“A lot of what happened in that five minutes after half-time was down to our errors, we were unable to gather a pass from the kick off and gave France some dominance in our 22.
“We’ll look at all the game. I think we could have done more in the first 15-20 minutes when we were playing so well. There was some opportunities there that we could have taken with a bit more ambition and accuracy.
“The period when we were a man down was really good defensively, but I feel we could have done better when we had ball. And the final quarter when we came back, there is maybe not much to improve there because there was some outstanding play, but it would have been nice to have a chance with that line-out at the end and there was that scrum where France won the penalty.
“So there is always areas to improve, but I am so proud of not just the effort but that resilience and collective belief the players have built over the last few weeks and last few months.
“This team will not be beaten. We’ll keep going and we’re a very dangerous team to play against, and we believe the more time we spend together the more accurate we’ll get.”
Townsend feels spoiled for choice as he prepares to trim his 37-man training squad to 33 for the World Cup, with the announcement to be made this Wednesday.
The head coach was encouraged that he was able to make six changes to the starting XV from the Murrayfield victory over the French and still send out a team strong enough to challenge Les Bleus on their own patch.
The strength in depth at Townsend’s disposal was highlighted by the fact Kyle Steyn, who is generally a substitute when fellow wings Darcy Graham and Duhan Van Der Merwe are fit, chipped in with two of the Scots’ tries. The others came from Van Der Merwe and Rory Darge.
“The bench is worth commenting on,” said Townsend. “The depth we have in our squad means we can mix things up at times, rest players or bring players in because of form or because they are suited to a certain game, Kyle Steyn being a good example.
“In the last three games now the bench has made a real change in our energy, helped take the game to the opposition, so it is encouraging that the 23 is being utilised and helping us play better at the end of games, and the final quarter is probably the most important time in a game to play well.
“There will be a difficult selection coming up with the squad, but also when we have to pick our 23-man squad game to game.”
Smith not pinning blame on Ford for England loss
Marcus Smith does not blame England's narrow defeat to New Zealand on Saturday on George Ford, despite his late missed kicks.
Ford replaced Smith, who had scored 17 points and set up England's only try in their 24-22 loss, hitting a potential match-winning penalty against the post before narrowly missing a drop goal.
England had held an eight-point advantage when Smith left the field, but Mark Tele'a's 76th-minute try before Damian McKenzie added five late points proved enough to get the All Blacks over the line.
The hosts' autumn series got off to a losing start as Ford struggled to find his clinical edge in the dying moments, but Smith does not lay any blame at his team-mate's feet.
"Sometimes that's the life of a kicker, we've all experienced that. It's part and parcel of the job," said Smith.
"I've learned so much off George. He's an unbelievable kicker, both off the tee and out of hand. It was one of those days.
"It's nothing to do with him why we didn't win the game. It's a team effort. Every kicker in the world has experienced that.
"We practise [drop-goals] as kickers every single day, but sometimes it doesn't go for you. We're all human and people miss."
Saturday marked a third consecutive narrow loss to New Zealand for England, with their last win an emphatic victory over Japan in June.
Despite that run, Smith remains confident that England can take lessons from these defeats to set themselves up for success in the future.
"International rugby is very different to the Premiership and the experiences we're experiencing now are very painful, but we'll be better for them," Smith added.
"Keep the faith. We've fallen again on the wrong side of the result, but we'll learn from it 100%.
"These experiences will tighten us as a group, and it will be worth it in the long run. We will be better for it."
England 'banging on the door' of rugby's elite, says proud Borthwick
Steve Borthwick reckons England are "banging on the door" of the elite nations after their close loss to New Zealand.
England went down 24-22 to the All Blacks in Saturday's Test match at Twickenham.
Mark Tele'a scored the decisive try for New Zealand, who beat England twice in July, in the 76th minute.
England missed the chance to win it late on when George Ford missed a drop-goal attempt, after he had struck the post with a penalty.
But coach Borthwick, who was immensely proud of his team, feels England showed they are capable of mixing it with the best teams in the world, despite losing four of their last five Tests.
"It is a mixture of immense pride at the performance against a very tough New Zealand team and one of incredible disappointment," Borthwick told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"They are the emotions we balance and will work through over the next few days.
"When we started two years ago we wanted to get England right to the top of world rugby again. You can see the team banging on the door."
With the pre-match build-up having been dominated by Joe Marler's jibe at New Zealand's pre-match haka routine, tries from Tele'a and Will Jordan put New Zealand in control.
Marcus Smith's penalties kept England in contention, though, and he set up the hosts' only try when he intercepted a loose pass and teed up Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.
Yet England ultimately failed to hold on to an eight-point advantage, with Ford having to be consoled by his team-mates after the match.
Next up for England are Australia, with fixtures against South Africa and Japan also in store.
"We really have to find a way of winning these close ones," said captain Jamie George. "We put ourselves in a really good position after 60 minutes.
"Eight points is a lot in Test match rugby but we probably went chasing the game a bit and gave away too many penalties. We have to be smarter in that respect."
England walked up to the halfway line to face the haka, something George explained was planned prior to Marler's comments.
"That was always our plan before Joe's comments but we did it in a respectful way," said George. "I saw a smile on Scott Barrett’s face, I was smiling, and it was done in good spirits."
England aiming to be one of 'world's best' teams, says Earl
England have aspirations of greatness, asserted Ben Earl as he prepares to face New Zealand in a friendly at Twickenham.
The 26-year-old was optimistic about the progress England had made under Steve Borthwick despite registering two losses at the hands of the All Blacks in July.
England will be seeking revenge after losing the second match of the test in a devastatingly close 16-15 defeat. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso had scored a try to put England ahead after scores had been tied 10-10 at half-time, but two penalty kicks from Damian McKenzie ended their hopes.
Earl, however, believes the heartbreak has given his country an opportunity to develop.
“I think it’s an experience all the big teams go through, you have to go through some heartache to get over the line,” he told TNT Sports.
“It just feels like it’s the evolution of all the top teams, and we are a team that wants to be known as a great team, some of the world’s best.
“So we know the heartache is good for a while, but it’s time to go and do it at the right time. We got a glimpse of it against Ireland last year, and we feel we are due one, and we have learnt some really hard lessons over the summer, so we feel we are in a better place for it.
“We have always said you don’t win easily against us and that’s something we have developed over the last 18 months with Steve’s mindset and the boys getting hold of it, and now I feel it’s time to get over the line in one of these big games.”
New Zealand have won their last three matches, having defeated Japan and secured a double over Australia. They struggled against reigning world champions South Africa, however, as they failed to exact revenge on the Springboks in late summer tests falling to defeat twice.
Undoubtedly, the All Blacks still represent some of the best talent in the world, with Earl expected to line up opposite New Zealand’s superstar Wallace Sititi.
“There’s stardust littered all over the pitch isn’t there? There’s some pretty cool match-ups; it just feels like a game that isn’t going to disappoint,” he said.
England won’t be overawed, though. Instead, they aim to make their west London home a fortress for visiting sides to travel to.
“[Twickenham is] a place where we want to be really, really hard to beat. And we’ve always said in the camp, if you want to beat us at Twickenham you are going to have to be over and above the norm,” Earl said.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
