Gregor Townsend has backed his Scotland stars after certain members of his squad decided not to 'take the knee' prior to yesterday's Six Nations clash against England. 

The majority of the Scots team did not take to their knees when the players lined up ahead of the match. 

Twelve England players and four Scotland players took the knee - with some being critical of the Scotland players for refusing to take part in the gesture which has been adopted by the Black Lives Matter movement.

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The 'taking of the knee' has been adopted at many sporting occasions including the Scottish and English Premier League. 

Asked if his Scotland squad had discussed the issue beforehand, Townsend told the BBC: “No we’d been told there was a few things before the game rightly, commemorating those that died in the pandemic, a few former England internationals that had died in the past few weeks, a minutes applause for Captain Sir Tom and the recognition of stamping out racism.

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“Which has taken place in games previously in the season, that was part of it and we obviously stand against racism and discrimination in our sport.

On whether it was the players decision, Townsend added: “100 per cent we back our players on that.”