Gregor Townsend believes Scotland can mount a serious challenge for the Six Nations title if they follow up their stunning win over England with victory in Wales.
The squad jetted out to Spain on Sunday morning for a short warm-weather training camp, buoyed by Saturday’s crushing 31-20 victory that delivered the Calcutta Cup back into Scottish hands.
Their upbeat mood was night and day from the previous weekend when Scotland opened their campaign with a demoralising defeat to Italy in Rome.
That heaped huge pressure on under-fire head coach Townsend, and another setback against England would have made next weekend’s game in Cardiff a potential wooden spoon decider.
Instead, Scotland’s latest triumph over the Auld Enemy — a fifth in six years — means they travel to the Welsh capital knowing another win will leave them in a strong position going into the rest week.
Aware his team have failed to build on such successes before, Townsend says they need to show they are capable of contending for the championship.
Gregor Townsend, above left, celebrates with Gregor Brown after sensational win over England
Huw Jones takes acclaim of fans as he runs in to score Scotland’s fourth try
Ben White, centre left, is in dreamland as he celebrates scoring the home side’s third try
Skipper Sione Tuipulotu holds Calcutta Cup aloft as the celebrations begin at Murrayfield
‘There’s another game next week and we’re on a seven-day turnaround. That is going to focus the minds,’ he said.
‘We’ll enjoy having the trophy but we’ve got to realise this is week four now of a campaign. I said to Sione [Tuipulotu, after the game on Saturday]: “When’s a good time to tell the players to stop drinking?”. But we enjoyed being in the changing room.
‘It brings back so many good memories having the trophy in there, but we now know we’ve got a job to do. Someone mentioned we were top of the table but there’s a championship to go for now. We weren’t feeling that way last Saturday night or last Sunday morning.
‘The only way we can go after this championship is if we win next week and then we have a week off. So that’s a goal for us now.
‘There are obviously a lot of positives to build on. That was a level we’ve seen from our players at times in November and we want to back that up next week. But Cardiff’s a really tough venue.
‘The home venues are definitely something in the Six Nations you can use to your advantage. Cardiff is one of the noisiest atmospheres. I really hope there are lots of Scots there. They were still looking to sell tickets, so if the Scots could get the tickets, please, that would be great.’
Scotland had been accused by English pundits of always raising their game against the Auld Enemy, but Townsend — who has only lost twice to England in nine games as head coach — was baffled by that notion.
‘I did find it funny that people were looking at it as a negative. I played England 10 times as a player and only won one. I watched the team lose game after game and nothing hits harder than losing to England. And the one game that we won back in 2000, we lost all our other games in the Six Nations that year and it lifted everybody. It was the best result.
Ben White takes full advantage as he touches down for the Scots at Murrayfield
Jamie Ritchie, above right, is a happy man after scoring Scotland’s second try
Finn Russell played one of his best matches for Scotland in the 31-20 victory
‘So to play our best rugby against England is a massive positive. If I was to choose one team to play your best rugby against, it would be England every single time. We saw the atmosphere before, during and after the game and what it means to our supporters. I’d take every time a victory against England over anybody.’
Scotland’s win over England in 2018 was their first in a decade and Townsend believes Saturday’s victory was on a par with that achievement.
‘I was sharing a beer with Huw Jones in the changing room after the game. He’s played in a lot of these and I was asking him what his favourite game was. I don’t think anything probably can beat 2018, because it had been a long time since we beat England. But this was a very similar game on Saturday where the tries we scored in the first half were comparable to 2018. And then the same effort and defence in the second half. So it matched 2018.
‘I talked to the guys about 2023 and that performance away from home. It was the first time we’d won away from home in so many years, with a crowd, and the way we won it and the team effort with that try at the end, that was hard to beat. But they’re all good memories.’
The only downside for Scotland were serious injuries sustained by Jamie Ritchie, Jamie Dobie and Jack Dempsey that will likely see all three miss out on Saturday’s encounter in Cardiff.
Townsend said: ‘I’m gutted for the players that are injured. Jack has been great all season and this could be his last game of the championship. Jamie got back in the team and scored a try. He’s been great. He’s shown his leadership ability when he’s not played the previous week. We know what playing for Scotland means to him so let’s hope he’s not out for too long.
‘And Jamie’s obviously been in great form. Let’s hope again they’re not serious injuries. We’re hoping Ewan Ashman will be available next week so we’ll just see how his neck and shoulder recover during the week.’
Scorer Huw Jones, above left, is hugged by Ben White after scoring the team’s first try
Sione Tuipulotu holds the Calcutta Cup aloft on a glorious day for Scotland team
Princess Anne shares a few words with Tuipulotu after he led Scots to victory on Saturday
Townsend explained the benefits of heading to the Oliva Nova resort near Valencia in what has become an annual tradition. ‘We’ve gone to Spain every season. We usually have done it before an away game and the last couple of away games have been early on in the championship. It’s worked really well for us, most times we go to Spain. I remember Cardiff two years ago and other occasions going from Spain to Twickenham and playing really well.
‘It gives us guaranteed training, good weather, a bit of vitamin D and a real recovery focus. It also gets us in our own bubble for a week. Because, even though we stay in a hotel [in Scotland], players go back and see their families. So, this will be really good going into the week.
‘Obviously there will be a more positive vibe around the group having won but, just with that goal of making sure we go to Wales and deliver a very good performance.’
