Gregor Townsend keen to inspire nation as Scotland ride wave of sporting success

By Sports Desk September 05, 2023

Gregor Townsend has called on his Rugby World Cup hopefuls to play their part in ramping up the feelgood factor of a nation in what promises to be a passion-stirring autumn for Scottish sport.

The Scots, who arrived in France on Sunday night, harbour genuine ambitions of going deep into the global showpiece after elevating themselves to fifth in the world rankings. They have never previously gone into a World Cup in a loftier position.

In addition, the buoyant Scottish football team are on the brink of qualifying for only their second major tournament since 1998, with Steve Clarke’s team able to set one foot in Germany for Euro 2024 if they defeat Cyprus this Friday, while Oban’s Bob MacIntyre will become the first Scottish golfer since Stephen Gallacher in 2014 to represent Europe at the Ryder Cup at the end of September.

Townsend knows his team, on the biggest stage in their sport, have a chance to rouse the public back home.

“It’s an exciting few weeks for Scottish sport,” the head coach told the PA news agency. “The football this week, rugby right through September and October, and Bob MacIntyre getting in the Ryder Cup team so we’ve got someone to cheer for.

“There are some massive events, the biggest tournament in our game, one of the biggest ones in golf just round the corner, and you’ve got the football team doing really well.

“It makes everybody who is interested in sport feel better when the team they support are doing well.

“We get a boost when we watch the football team do well and we’re another sporting organisation so I would imagine people that are big supporters of us, it gives them real hope and inspiration and lifts their mood for a day or a week and they can’t wait to get behind the team in the future. That’s certainly the feeling we get from our supporters.”

Townsend, who feels “very privileged” to be leading Scotland to a second consecutive World Cup, is thrilled with the way supporters have rallied behind his team in recent seasons. The head coach hopes his “humble” group of players can strengthen that bond and engage other more casual rugby observers by flourishing in France over the next two months.

“A lot of people say to me, ‘I don’t tend to watch rugby but I watch the Six Nations or the World Cup’,” he said. “I think there’s something about the national team, whether it’s football or rugby, that makes you go, ‘right, I don’t have to be a big supporter of it but I’ll switch it on because I know they’re representing us’.

“We’ve seen it with the crowds we’ve been getting at Murrayfield over the last few years but if we just take the last three home games over the summer, the crowd numbers there before the game were huge.

“They’re there two hours before the game and they stay there afterwards. It’s brilliant. I think there’s a different group of people coming to games.

“Maybe these games were different because they were in the summer but I saw so many families at our last game against Georgia and it was great to see.

“We had three generations of families coming to watch the team. A lot of that is from the way the team is playing but it’s also because of the players as people.

“They are the most humble, open and engaging guys you could coach. I see how much time they spend with supporters and that rubs off.

“If you have a group that is closed, won’t stay for autographs and ignore people who want to chat them, that is going to have an effect on what people think of you, whereas this group are brilliant. I believe that’s a big part of why the people in the country are behind them.”

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    The Springboks dominated from the off and were cruising 26-0 just before half-time, after Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Elrigh Louw crossed.

    Rio Dyer's try before the break ensured Wales did not draw a blank in the first half, but South Africa did not let up as Aphelele Fassi, Gerhard Steenenkamp and Jordan Hendrikse all followed suit.

    James Botham's late effort ensured Wales did not suffer their worst-ever home defeat, but they have now gone an entire calendar year without a win for the first time since 1937.

    Gatland has come under increasing pressure as the losses pile up, and though his future remains up in the air, he was proud of how his inexperienced side held up against the world champions.

    "It's about seeing what the Welsh Rugby Union has to say," he told TNT Sports when asked about his future.

    "You don't make a decision straight after a game, it's always tough coming to a press conference straight after a game before you've had time to catch your breath and look at some of the stats and numbers.

    "Let's just see what happens over the next few days."

    On their recent run of form, he added: "We punched massively above our weight for a number of years, and we've been saying that when the dam bursts it's going to take a little bit of time to put things right.

    "The dam has burst, but it's about making sure that, collectively, with the regions we work together.

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    South Africa have won each of their last three Tests, building on their wins over Scotland and England earlier in the series.

    Captain Siya Kolisi was pleased with their ruthlessness in the game but also sympathised with Gatland's situation.

    "It's been a really good tour," he told TNT Sports. "It hasn't been perfect, the first two games we weren't happy - happy we won, but there was so much we could have done better.

    "The results are important, but it's how you do things, the standards we set for ourselves. We know we can do a little bit better as a group.

    "We were where Wales are a couple of years ago.

    "The only thing I can say is you just can't stop believing. If you look at their starting backline, one of our guys had more caps than all of them. You have to be realistic about these things."

    Elsewhere, Ireland produced their most convincing win of their series, scoring eight tries as they cruised past Fiji 52-17 in Dublin earlier on Saturday. 

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    England head coach Steve Borthwick has demanded his team to be "brave on the ball" when they take on Eddie Jones' Japan in the Autumn Nations Series on Sunday. 

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