Defensive concern and wing dilemma for Gregor Townsend
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has warned his charges they must tighten up defensively when they face Australia in the Autumn Nations Series on Sunday.
The Scots claimed an impressive 60-14 victory over Tonga in their first of four end-of-year internationals at Murrayfield over the weekend, scoring 10 tries.
However, the concession of three first-half penalties and a second-half try was a cautionary note for the Scotland boss ahead of the visit of the Wallabies.
Australia have scored an average of 30 points in each of their last five matches, which saw them beat South Africa and Argentina twice and also Japan.
Australia full of confidence
Townsend said: “Defensively we’ll have to be at our very best. Australia have shown they are a good attacking side and they are full of confidence.
“They’ve won five Test matches in a row and they’ve beaten the world champions twice, the number one team in the world.
“We set very high standards in our defence and at times (on Saturday) it wasn’t at those standards.
“We also have to see how quickly we can integrate the players who are going to come back into the team during the week.
“We’ve got an extra day to prepare which should help us but we know it’s going to be a massive challenge on Sunday.”
Townsend has some selection issues for Sunday with his 10 English-based players joining the pool along with Racing 92 fly-half Finn Russell and Sharks flanker Dylan Richardson.
Townsend handed starts to the previously uncapped Pierre Schoeman, Jamie Hodgson, Sione Tuipulotu and Rufus McLean on Saturday. Marshall Sykes, Luke Crosbie, Ross Thompson and Jamie Dobie made their debuts off the bench.
Kyle Steyn marked his first start by becoming the first Scotland player to score four tries at Murrayfield while fellow wing McLean grabbed a double and Schoeman one.
Townsend said: “I think there are a few players who put their hands up for selection.
“Maybe people will think that scoring tries is a key element in selection but we’ll look at a number of other things.
“I thought that both wingers were very, very good. Obviously Rufus got two early tries and Kyle got four in the end. Both contributed really well on kick-chase, with Kyle making some kicks that might not have been brilliant kicks into ones that had great outcomes. Rufus the same.
“And we had a winger who started our last Test match in Paris at full-back (Darcy Graham), so it’s great to see three wingers pushing for places.
“We’ll have Duhan (van der Merwe) back available for us next week, and I believe he got two tries for Worcester.
“So there’s real strength in depth in that position, and in other positions throughout the team. Hopefully we’ll have no injuries and can select from a full squad.”
England still pushing to become best rugby side ever
England second-row Charlie Ewels is determined to help his side bounce back from a disastrous Six Nations during their upcoming Autumn Nations Series campaign.
Head coach Eddie Jones set his team a challenge in January 2020 to become the greatest side to have played rugby, but 2021 was a forgetful year for the English.
In March, they completed their worst Six Nations on record by finishing fifth and, having beaten the USA and Canada in July, they now face the formidable task of subduing Tonga, Australia and South Africa over successive weekends at Twickenham.
But Bath second-row Ewels sees no reason why England cannot rise to the summit of the sport and takes confidence from their World Cup semi-final victory over New Zealand in 2019.
