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Gregor Townsend: Scotland players bonding across the Atlantic
Gregor Townsend believes the intensity of Scotland’s month-long summer tour of the Americas is proving to be a hugely beneficial learning experience.
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The Scots will be aiming to make it three wins in succession against Chile in Santiago in Saturday night after high-margin victories over Canada in Ottawa and the United States in Washington already this month.
But in addition to playing matches, Townsend has been enjoying the rare chance to get so much time – on and off the training pitch – in the company of his players, particularly those who are in the squad for the first time.
“We learn so much, we learn about people as individuals,” said the head coach. “It’s the first time we have worked with a number of players and got to know them.
“They get to know what a Test environment looks like and obviously learn from players that have been here before, players that are leading for us.
“To have four weeks, more than four weeks because we had time at home as well with the group, is great. You get to spend time coaching, they get the experience of playing Test rugby, and enjoying being in their team-mates’ company in the four great countries we are visiting.”
Forwards Ewan Johnson, Nathan McBeth and Will Hurd will all make their first starts against Chile after winning their first caps as subs against Canada, while Paddy Harrison could make his debut off the bench.
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Townsend is looking forward to an “open” game in Santiago in his team’s penultimate outing of their tour before they face Uruguay in Montevideo next weekend.
“Chile are a different team (to the United States and Canada),” he said. “They definitely play a style of rugby that will challenge our defence, they move the ball a lot.
“They’ve got a lot of individual players that can break tackles. Throughout the World Cup, they had some of the best stats in beating defenders.
“Conditions are supposed to be dry, so I would expect it to be a much more open game, both from what we’re able to do with the ball, but also the way Chile play.
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“And the fact is that they’re playing a Six Nations team at home at the national stadium, it’s going to be massive for them, so you can imagine that they’ll bring a lot of physicality.”
Scotland team to face Chile: Rowe, Dobie, Steyn, Tuipulotu (all Glasgow), Reed (Sale), Healy (Edinburgh), Warr (Sale); McBeth (Glasgow), Richardson (Sharks), Hurd (Leicester), Craig (Scarlets), Johnson (Oyonnax), Brown (Glasgow), Ritchie (Edinburgh), Bayliss (Bath).
Replacements: Harrison, Schoeman, Sebastian, Currie (all Edinburgh), Williamson, Darge, Hastings, McDowall (all Glasgow)
