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The new Scotland pecking order at 10 as per Gregor Townsend

By PA
Finn Russell - PA

Gregor Townsend admits Finn Russell is now the man “in possession” of Scotland’s number 10 jersey going into the Six Nations after the fly-half produced a magnificent display in Saturday’s 52-29 victory over ill-disciplined Argentina.

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The Racing 92 stand-off was controversially omitted from the initial squad named last month for the autumn series, with the head coach raising concerns about his “form and consistency” at club level as he instead placed his faith in Blair Kinghorn and Adam Hastings.

However, Russell, on the back of impressive form at club level and injury to Hastings, was handed a recall to the squad ahead of the third autumn Test against New Zealand last weekend.

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After impressing against the All Blacks, the 30-year-old was the man at the heart of Scotland’s eight-try triumph over the Pumas as he firmly re-established himself as Scotland’s main option at number 10.

“Yes, he’s now the man in possession,” said Townsend. “Finn’s played really well the last two weeks and it will take something (special) from Blair and Adam to change that.”

Asked about Russell’s display, Townsend said: “He was very good. There are parts to his game that maybe don’t get talked about a huge amount.

“I said to him in the changing room he had three tackles in a row in the first half, so he showed his competitiveness there.

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“He’s got a very good carrying game and his offloads created really good line-breaks.

“His little kick-through in the second half was the right thing to do and created a try for Cam Redpath. His passing skills are up there with the best in the world.

“Maybe we expect those great passes, but they led to some really good opportunities. It was a very good display.”

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Townsend was pleased to see his team end their autumn series with a high-scoring win over the Pumas after an unconvincing victory over Fiji was sandwiched by agonising defeats at the hands of Australia and New Zealand in the previous Tests.

“We would have taken that before the match,” he said of the scoreline. “When they scored right before half-time we knew it was going to be a tricky second half, but I’m delighted with the way the players adapted to certain situations.

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“What we did in attack and defence had a big effect on Argentina and I loved the energy in the last 10 minutes.”

Argentina head coach Michael Cheika felt his side, who had Marcos Kremer red-carded in the first half and then had three players sin-binned in the second, left themselves too stretched after the break.

“There were some key errors in the second half that took away opportunities to stay in the match,” he said. “At a certain point, you’ve just got to stay in it, stay as close as you can when you are down a man like that. I felt like we could win the game.

“We certainly had the effort to win the game, but I think we tried to solve some situations on our own, just lacked a bit of concentration at key moments and that cost us directly with tries.”

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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