GREGOR TOWNSEND has heaped praise on his Glasgow Warriors players and staff for helping him become the next head coach of the Scottish national team.
It emerged on Wednesday that the 43-year-old will replace Vern Cotter at Murrayfield at the end of the forthcoming campaign, ending a spell of five years in charge of the PRO12 club.
During his time at Glasgow, Townsend has presided over a massive transformation both on and off the field. Being part of the club as they moved to their now permanent home at Scotstoun, crowds have sky-rocketed as Townsend's side have reached new heights, namely being crowned PRO12 champions in 2015.
A former Scotland fly-half with 82 caps to his name, the Warriors head coach has spoken out for the first time about his feelings at moving away to Glasgow and leading his country, underlining his gratitude to all who have helped make the move happen.
“I’m incredibly proud, and incredibly fortunate and grateful for the opportunity," said Townsend. “I’ve had a great time as coach at Glasgow and I’m really grateful for the opportunity I had four years ago to become the coach here. It will be a great honour but it’s next season and we’ve got a lot of work to do this season.
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“Obviously I thank Scottish Rugby for the opportunity. First and foremost they gave me the opportunity with Glasgow four years ago.
“Also the people that have helped me and enable me get the job next season are the players. They are the ones that play the games and do the hard training and win games.
“The support staff we have here on and off field, especially the coaching staff, make my job much easier. I’m very grateful for everyone around the club.
“We’ve had lots of special days and nights at Scotstoun and I’m looking forward to a few more this season."
Townsend is adamant that his focus will not fall away from the task of bringing his tenure at Glasgow to a successful conclusion. On the back of their triumph in 2015, the Scotstoun club bowed at the semi-final stages last time around with a 16-11 defeat away to Connacht, and he is determined, along with his players, to put things right.
“Every year we want to be better," he told Warriors HQ. "We want to work harder as coaches and we want to push the players forward so they can reach their potential.
“There’s something building towards this season. I feel that we didn’t do ourselves justice right at the end of last season. We now have our players from the beginning of the season, they are really determined."
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