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Welcome back Duncan Taylor, a creature so rare that fans must be wondering if he exists at all

Scotland's Duncan Taylor celebrates after scoring a try against Australia in 2017 (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Most welcome and most appetising in Scotland’s line-up for their first of four World Cup warm-up Tests is the start at No12 for Duncan Taylor, a creature so rare that fans must be wondering if he still exists at all.

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Taylor has endured a torturous spate of injuries these past few seasons – the nuanced and maddening menace of concussion, a back problem and two damaged knee ligaments – such that he has taken on an almost mythical status. 

He hasn’t been seen on a rugby pitch in almost a year, and last played a Test match in June 2017. Watching Taylor walk out in France next Saturday night wearing a Scotland jersey will be like seeing a dodo strut down Princes Street. 

A glorious sight it will be nonetheless, for Taylor is a supreme operator. Why else would Gregor Townsend select a player who last took the field in September 2018, while dropping two of Glasgow’s form men over the past two seasons in Nick Grigg and Kyle Steyn? 

Why else would all-conquering Saracens have given Taylor a contract through to 2021 in spite of that heinous injury record?

Taylor is a potentially massive asset to Scotland, a formidable specimen who can attack, defend and lead, and who possesses the precious quality of versatility. He will feature primarily as a centre, but can very comfortably step in at wing or full-back. 

On that 2017 summer tour where he won his most recent caps, he played in all three positions. If he stays healthy – and given all that has befallen him, it is a big if – he might be asked to do the same in Japan.

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The Saracens man came through a bounce match against Edinburgh last week, but how his body and mind will cope with the rigours of the Test game is another matter.

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There will be intrigue too around Rory Hutchinson, the Northampton Saints centre who took the Premiership by storm last season and will make his debut from the bench. As recently as December, Hutchinson was by his own admission “fighting for a job”, recovering from injury with a frugal haul of first-team appearances to his name. 

He delivered a sensational response. From February to end of Saints’ Premiership campaign, Hutchinson scored four tries, contributed five assists, made 17 clean breaks and beat 36 defenders in 11 starts. Like Taylor, the 23-year-old has versatility on his side – he can play anywhere across the midfield axis – and a fine defensive game, a quality Townsend is understandably keen to see in his centres. 

We might well see him introduced at 10 for Adam Hastings where he has served with distinction in the national age-grade sides and where he might put pressure on Pete Horne, Townsend’s preferred option as a second distributor who can plug several holes.

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Scotland Calcutta Cup
Scotland finished the 2019 Six Nations on the high of a draw at Twickenham (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

In among all of the anticipation at Taylor’s great comeback and Hutchinson’s emergence, you have to feel for Grigg, an effervescent little buzz-bomb of a centre who started Scotland’s last three Tests, only to be jettisoned from the squad without a single crack at a warm-up match. 

Granted, Grigg was fielded in the Six Nations in part because of injuries to Taylor and Huw Jones, but even as the tournament went on, he made noticeable strides in his tackling and defensive positioning. Steyn, too, blasted from nowhere to become one of Glasgow’s go-to men in their run to the PRO14 final – he, too, can cover the back-three.

Having Grigg and Steyn available for the early throes of the season will be a welcome boost for Glasgow at a time when they will be shorn of so much talent, but already the cold reality of elite rugby is being keenly felt. This is the first real opportunity for so many in the most fiercely contested areas of the squad to raise their hands.

Scotland squad chart
Scotland’s 2019 World Cup squad depth chart

The starting loosehead, Jamie Bhatti, is likely vying with Gordon Reid, the replacement, for a berth alongside first-choice Allan Dell. Bhatti has the stronger presence around the field; Reid is superior at the set-piece.

Ben Toolis, Jamie Ritchie and Josh Strauss face a monumental audition, for the back-five of the scrum is where Townsend can call upon a bountiful well of riches.

Can Strauss produce his best stuff over the course of 80 minutes, rather than rousing but fleeting bursts of carries? Toolis and Ritchie were two of Scotland’s top performers in the Six Nations, but with Sam Skinner, John Barclay and Hamish Watson fit again, and Jonny Gray hitting wonderful form at the end of the season, can they pick up where they left off?

Jones, too, must rediscover the sort of scintillating rugby he showed in his first two seasons, the blistering attack that earned him 10 tries in his first 16 Tests. He got injured two games into the Six Nations and in two years at Glasgow, has barely fired a shot. 

He is a phenomenal weapon to wield on his game, but with the immense competition across midfield from Taylor, Horne, Hutchinson, Chris Harris and the outstanding Sam Johnson, his spot is far from secure. 

The man with least to lose is Byron McGuigan, whose chances of ousting one of the star names from a probable back-three allocation of five looks slim. Stuart Hogg, Sean Maitland, Darcy Graham, Tommy Seymour and Blair Kinghorn are the strongest candidates, but Taylor’s versatility, fitness and form permitting, might allow Townsend to take one fewer. 

McGuigan was excellent in the bedlam of Scotland’s roaring second-half comeback at Twickenham and will be next in line for the final cut if one of the top five goes down.

Scott Cummings, a late addition to the squad after a fantastic few months with Glasgow, will get his debut off the bench, and although he is the outsider among the locks, he has time to shake up the pecking order. 

Cummings is a player in the Townsend mould – athletic, nimble, a clever footballer and a relentlessly hard worker. In Glasgow’s last four games of the season, and their run to the PRO14 final, he made 72 tackles and carried 79 metres with the ball in hand. At 22, Cummings is callow, but he has bucket-loads to offer.

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The outcome at the weekend doesn’t carry the seismic importance of a Six Nations Test or tournament rugby, but it is significant nonetheless. Scotland last won in France 20 years ago. 

Since the last World Cup, they have played 13 away Tests against tier one opposition and won four. Two of those victories came in the Six Nations, both against Italy. Another was a rout of a truly hapless Argentina in the death throes of Daniel Hourcade’s coaching reign and the most notable a fantastic win over Australia two years ago.

Scotland last won in Cardiff in 2002, in Dublin in 2010 and at Twickenham over 30 years ago, albeit they came mighty close in the mayhem of the final day of the Six Nations. 

For all that Vern Cotter and then Townsend have made Scotland better – a team to be taken seriously – their away record is an abomination. For all that Saturday is about combinations and cohesion and men pressing their cases for a seat on the plane, it is also about a Scotland team showing they can go to France and win.

The selection quarrels in the bars and clubhouses can begin, the fantasy XVs meticulously constructed and so too the second-guessing of Townsend from Shetland to Selkirk. Suddenly, the road to Japan has a tangible feel.

WATCH: Part one of Operation Jaypan, the two-part RugbyPass documentary on what the travelling fans can expect to experience in Japan

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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
LONG READ
LONG READ England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit
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