Courageous win thrills Scotland boss Gregor Townsend

Adam Kyriacou

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend praised his players after they bounced back to defeat France 17-14 in their Rugby World Cup warm-up game.

The victory at Murrayfield came on the back of a heavy loss to the same opposition in Nice, with Townsend having made 14 changes to his XV.

Despite going 14-3 down as half-time approached, the hosts responded well as tries from Sean Maitland and Chris Harris saw them to victory.

“We found a way to win amongst a lot of adversity,” Townsend told BBC Sport, with his charges taking on Georgia next Saturday in Tbilisi.

“The collective effort, mindset, commitment was there in the jersey, that was really pleasing to see.

“Losing a try early on, losing another try on our ball, being down at half-time but coming back, losing key players, players playing in different positions near the end, so that’s pleasing.”

As mentioned, injuries were picked up in the contest, as Tommy Seymour, Blade Thomson and Sam Skinner are concerns following the home triumph. But the positives would undoubtedly outweigh the negatives for Townsend after Saturday as he now looks to build on this win next weekend.

“There’s a lot to work on, we know that, but that was more like what I thought it would be,” he said.

“It was great to see the crowd getting really behind the team and the players finding that win so we can go to Georgia with at least a win behind us.

“I thought we started really well and we were producing quick ball. It was just a misjudgment on a pass [for the opening try] and last week it was a misjudgment on a line-out throw and we have to deal with that. We have to regroup, stay focused and that’s what the players did well today.”