Gregor Townsend remained ice cool after Scotland’s exhilarating seven-try victory against France, which keeps them in the hunt for the title with one round to play, a position Scotland have never known in the Six Nations. The win was no big deal, he seemed to be saying.
“There have been other games where it’s probably meant a lot to the group,” he said, “whether it was a response or to break a record – away from home in Paris or Wales, or beating England for the first time in a number of years. So they maybe are the ones that have more significance. This [win] is very significant, but just now it’s round four. And it gives us a chance to win in round five.”
Cool though he may be, the result is vindication for Townsend and Scotland, who have persevered through hideous ups and downs throughout his long tenure as coach, never losing faith in their proactive, attacking game. “A team shouldn’t be judged on wins and losses. It should be judged on performance. Our forward pack stood up in Paris last year in much more difficult circumstances [and lost]. And they stood up today and got the rewards.”
Kyle Steyn, the player of the match with two tries, expects to be fit for Scotland’s final match in Dublin, the winner of whom will be clubhouse leader, with France playing England later that evening. But resources in the second row may be stretched, with Gregor Brown and Scott Cummings significant doubts, the former particularly.
Sione Tuipulotu, who finished the match in the centre alongside Rory Darge, a flanker, following Steyn’s withdrawal, remains equally level-headed as he prepares to lead his team into one last challenge. Tuipulotu said: “It’s a proud day for us, but I think one we’ve been building towards and one that maybe, if you’d been on our training ground, it’s not that we expected it, but it’s one we felt we were capable of. Today was more about us being us, and probably less about us winning or losing. It’s no different this week. We keep our feet on the ground. We know this is a good win for us, but we’ll take the confidence from it and that’s it. We just get back to the training field.”
Scotland will be aware of how they have struggled to back up great performances in the past. This is a rare run of wins for them. One more is now required. “We have momentum, definitely,” said Scotland’s captain. “The belief has been there since before the tournament. Maybe that’s hard for you to see but I’ve been inside the training room. I’ve been in the meetings and listened to Gregor talk, listened to the other coaches. We have a very tight changing room that believes, not just after this game but before it too. We’ve got to take that into one final week. We’ve got one more job to do.”
