There’s only one thing Scotland can do to save ‘Two-jobs’ Townsend

The clocks have gone back. The dark nights have drawn in. Bonfire Night will soon be upon us, as will the bunfight of the Black Friday sales.

The autumn internationals are here and this slate of fixtures marks the midway point in the four-year cycle heading towards the next World Cup.

By the time they reach this juncture, it is common for most teams to have a fairly clear idea of what they are trying to achieve.

Coaches work on gameplans they believe can deliver success. They begin to pick squads with the World Cup very much in mind. Players develop partnerships. Excitement builds. And yet, for Scotland, it’s not so much a sense of excitement but a sense of frustration and apathy that currently surrounds the national team.

There will always be those who turn up at Murrayfield, whether it be in the Six Nations or the autumn, with a happy-clappy mentality. Their interest in rugby is only fleeting at best. They are there for a day out and to enjoy themselves. As long as Scotland give them the odd try to cheer, the result is of little consequence.

Good luck to them, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. The problem, however, is that it would seem some of these people now also occupy senior positions within Scottish Rugby.

For those who are regular observers of the national team and have an emotional investment in results, there was very little appetite for Gregor Townsend’s contract as head coach to be renewed.

But at the onset of the summer tour a few months ago, chief executive Alex Williamson – for reasons best known to himself – made it his mission to offer Townsend an extension.

Given how poor results have been over each of the past two Six Nations, with Scotland winning only four of 10 matches, that came as quite a shock.

What was even more shocking was the news that emerged a few weeks later. Townsend had – with the full knowledge of and consent from the SRU – agreed to a part-time consultancy role with Red Bull. Not only is he taking his eye off the ball, he’s clearly eyeing up his next move as and when he finally calls it a day with Scotland.

No less a judge than Sir Clive Woodward told Daily Mail Sport this week that Townsend should really ‘focus on the day job’.

On and off the pitch, things have gone stale. It looks very much like Townsend has taken this team as far as he can, yet nobody above him can see it. If they can, they are seemingly unwilling to act

They are in thrall to a man who is now the longest-serving Scotland head coach of the professional era, despite overseeing two failed World Cup campaigns which saw his team crash out at the pool stage and an average Six Nations finish of fourth, never placing above third.

Yeah, square that circle if you can.

There is a staleness to the whole setup. Even the quotes from players are so tiresome, predictable and often without substance.

‘We know we can beat anyone on our day.’ You can bet your bottom dollar you’ll hear that one plenty in the build-up to next weekend’s clash with New Zealand.

Indeed, Townsend went early when he named his team for the opening match against the USA at Murrayfield. Speaking on Thursday, he said: ‘We certainly believe the players can get us wins against any team we come up against.’

Problem is, it’s just not true. There is nothing to support that.

Scotland have played New Zealand 32 times and they have never, ever beaten them. They came close in 2017 and 2022 but couldn’t get over the line. They have beaten South Africa only twice in the past 30 years, and not at all since 2010. They haven’t beaten Ireland in 11 attempts under Townsend.

So, they should really spare us this nonsense about ‘we know we can beat anyone on our day’. Go out there against the All Blacks next week and prove it.

That is by far and away the standout fixture, with games against Argentina and Tonga to follow over the next four weeks.

New Zealand are not the force they once were. Only a couple of months ago, they were battered 43-10 by South Africa on home soil in Wellington. Walloped good and proper, it was a record defeat.

The All Blacks are a team who are still in transition under head coach Scott Robertson. There for the taking? That might be stretching it, but Scotland won’t get a better chance to finally beat them.

Argentina are a terrific side on their day, as shown when they shocked the British and Irish Lions in Dublin in the summer, but they can also be flaky.

Three wins from the four games should be the very least of Scotland’s ambitions. A clean sweep of winning all four should not be beyond them. If they can do that, then we might finally have seen some tangible signs of progress under Townsend, whose squad boasts 11 British and Irish Lions among their number.

Huw Jones is a high-profile absentee through injury. Zander Fagerson and Rory Darge are two more first-choice picks whose availability to face the All Blacks remains unclear. Other than that, Scotland are fairly healthy. Finn Russell won’t play against the US and neither will the likes of Blair Kinghorn, Ben White and all of the other players based outside of Scotland.

But it’s still a strong enough team nonetheless, with Duhan van der Merwe winning his 50th cap and Darcy Graham operating on the opposite wing. Adam Hastings, Scott Cummings and Jack Dempsey are three more big names who will start against a US team ranked 15th in the world.

With Jonny Gray not in the picture despite playing well in France for Bordeaux, these next few weeks should see the evolution of Scotland’s second row. Grant Gilchrist has been a magnificent servant, but he is 35 years old now. He will be 37 by the time the next World Cup comes around.

Cummings was a British and Irish Lion in the summer and he is the future alongside Max Williamson. That has the makings of the new long-term second-row partnership. Williamson is a beast physically and showed it when he put in a mighty display against South Africa 12 months ago. At 23, and as long as he can stay fit, he’s only going to improve.

Townsend still has the makings of a good team. There are good players at his disposal. After starring for the Lions in Australia, Russell hasn’t missed a beat for Bath at the start of the new season.

The SRU may not care much for accountability, but the Scottish rugby public are right to expect better than what Townsend has delivered since the previous World Cup.

‘What we’ve gone through, good and bad, we’re in the best position that we’ve been in, in the time that I’ve been here,’ he said recently.

Again, just simply not true. Scotland have been a team on the slide these past couple of years. If that slide continues over the autumn and into next year’s Six Nations, the noise around Townsend’s tie-up with Red Bull will only intensify.

It will be impossible to shift the feeling that we are sleepwalking our way towards a World Cup with a failing head coach who views the Scotland job as a part-time gig. Only Townsend can change that narrative.