ANY coach is going to be happy with a five-try win but as Gregor Townsend plans ahead for the Rugby World Cup, he also knew it had been the kind of performance that could complicate things as he sits down today to pick his squad for the tournament.
He insists he does not know the 31-man party that will be unveiled in Linlithgow on Tuesday.
“We are going to reflect on the game first,” he said. “When you’re watching it live, it’s about how to get messages on to improve the performance, not what an individual has done.
“We’ll look at that on the plane on the way home then I’ll discuss with the other coaches and see where people are physically after the game.
“I believe we haven’t picked up any serious injuries, which is a real positive. Then we’ll let the players know on Monday.”
It was a good enough all-round team performance to possibly make him rethink a few borderline selections and Rory Hutchinson, the Northampton centre, undoubtedly made a strong case for himself with his two tries and impressive defence.
“It was good for Rory to get two tries on his first start for Scotland. It’s been a great season for him to get into the Northampton squad, get into our squad and now play three times for Scotland and have a couple of tries,” said Townsend.
“It was a better game for us to see our players. We’re into our third game now, so some of that match fitness comes out from all the work you’ve been doing on the training field.”
The big aspect of the game that delighted him, however, was that the players proved to themselves that they can play in a noisy, hostile atmosphere and not let it get to them.
“We have set the standard, and that goes back to how we approached the week. I thought we had a number of leaders throughout the team.
“When you think about the experienced guys in the front row, Grant Gilchrist leading the line-out, John Barclay and Greig Laidlaw as vice-captains and Finn Russell leading the attack, you have a lot of confidence that they’ll deliver on the game plan,” he said.
“Not only that, but they’ll find ways to win and they’re seeing on the field. You could see that the defensive line and the connection with our attack was spot on. That’s a group that’s worked well together and are now into their third game.
“Some of the attack play, the creative play and support lines were encouraging.”
Another of the big pluses was the performance of man-of-the-match Russell, who overcame a shaky first couple of minutes to pull the strings in a masterful display.
“He’s trained really well the last few weeks,” Townsend said. “He’s very fit, and for a player who’s played a lot of rugby last season he’s looked after himself and is in the best condition he’s been in.
“He’s leading our attack in training sessions, in meetings and now on the field. It was good to see him enjoying the game, and he’s defending well too.”
It was also a satisfying night for Stuart McInally, the captain, who had not had his finest hour when he led the side in Nice two weeks ago but bounced back to help engineer this performance.
“I was really pleased with how we started the game, we delivered on what we said we would do,” he said. “As leaders in the team, that is the most pleasing thing. We asked players to deliver on certain aspects and I think we did that. We asserted our physicality and kept the scoreboard ticking, which was important against a tough Georgian team.”
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