Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend prepared to take risk in last World Cup warm-up

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend is adamant that he will not be scared to risk his first-choice players in their last Rugby World Cup warm-up match against Georgia.

The game is set to take place at Murrayfield on Saturday, August 26, just a week before Scotland’s squad fly out to France ahead of their tournament opener against defending champions South Africa in Marseille on Sunday, September 10.

Some fitness concerns

There are already concerns over the fitness of captain and flanker Jamie Ritchie, scrum-half Ben White and star wing Duhan van der Merwe. Meanwhile, front-row Zander Fagerson is serving a two-match suspension after he was red carded in the home clash against France recently.

The danger of playing warm-up matches in the build-up to the World Cup came to the fore when France fly-half Romain Ntamack was ruled out of the global showpiece after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament during Les Bleus’ narrow 30-27 victory over Scotland in Saint-Etienne.

Despite having to navigate such risks, Townsend believes there is more to gain from giving his best players plenty of game-time ahead of the World Cup.

“It would be nice to have another two or three games before the World Cup but the reality is we have to be at our best in three and a half weeks’ time (for South Africa) and we’re getting closer to that,” he said.

“We’ll be going strong against Georgia. The more our strongest group of players get to play together, the better we’ll be for that South Africa game. The players want that too.

“Everybody wants to play that Georgia game. We understand there will be a group of players who haven’t played much rugby going into the World Cup but our goal will be to get that group that is most likely to be involved against South Africa to get those connections in a Test match environment.

“The players have been magnificent in training but training doesn’t replicate what you’re going to get in a game. The Georgia game will be very important for us in how we continue to improve and progress before we play South Africa.”

After naming his final 33-man squad for the global showpiece in France on Wednesday, Townsend revealed that he is happy with the standard of his playing personnel.

“We’re delighted with it,” he said. “It’s great that so many players are available for this World Cup. We had real long debates when we moved our 41 down to 37 and then 37 to 33.

“We know there are some really good players who have missed out on the squad but the ones here are in great physical shape, they’re going to drive us forward and their form is growing as we start the season.”

When he was told that Scotland’s 2023 Rugby World Cup squad is widely regarded to be their strongest ever, Townsend replied: “It’s hard to say. Some of those World Cup squads have been pretty impressive, especially the one in 1991.

Credits current crop of players

“All I can say is it’s the best group I’ve ever worked with (as a coach) in terms of what they’re producing on the training field and that includes time I spent with Glasgow, Scotland over the past six years and also in my short time with the Lions.

“They are delivering every day a game that stresses them in terms of the skills and fitness involved. We’re starting to see that transfer into the games.”

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