In the immediate aftermath of the 2019 World Cup, Gregor Townsend was struggling to hold on to the Scotland job, never mind making a case to be part of something bigger.
The Scots had crashed out at the pool stage, embarrassed by Japan and winning few friends back home with an insipid style that bore no relation to the verve and fizz of the Gala man’s first 18 months in charge.
Fast forward a year and a half and Townsend appears the natural choice to lead the Lions attack in the country where he reached the apex of his playing career with the combined side in 1997. What has changed? Perhaps the 47-year-old himself, who at the very least has shown a previously untapped flexibility.
Where certain assistant coaches once felt they might get more joy banging their heads against a brick wall, Townsend brought in new men, Steve Tandy and Pieter de Villiers, to run Scotland’s defence and scrum and, crucially, empowered them via time and focus on the training pitch. Scotland’s returns in both those areas were transformed in 2020, and a further significant tweak has taken place this year after the attack began to look neglected.
The 18 tries scored in the recent Six Nations was Scotland’s highest campaign tally since the championship grew from five teams, and though eight came in the rout of hapless Italy, there was a zip and tenacious purpose to their attacking work throughout.
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It helped, of course, that Townsend could call upon a brilliant new weapon in the shape of Duhan van der Merwe, but even the way the big South African has been used speaks volumes for the attention to detail of the coach. Often with Edinburgh, Van der Merwe can find himself kicking his heels out wide, whereas in national team colours he has been hitting great lines off fly half and scrum half and scrabbling for scraps round the fringes of the ruck.
Townsend could have gone to New Zealand as a coach in 2017 but was right to turn it down rather than miss his first three matches at the helm of Scotland. This time, he will be able to provide valuable insight into not just the abilities but the personalities of those looking to transform Scotland’s recent dismal representation. You would like to think that Stuart Hogg, Finn Russell and Hamish Watson already have a boarding pass, but for Jamie Ritchie, Jonny Gray, Rory Sutherland, Zander Fagerson or Van der Merwe himself, an extra voice speaking in their favour could make all the difference.
With the possible exception of Sutherland, the loose-head prop, they all play in positions which will be hotly contested, even when it comes to making the initial squad. Townsend will speak up and speak well of their credentials in a way that simply hasn’t happened in advance of recent expeditions; not since Jim Telfer in 1997 has a coach employed by the SRU at the time of touring been part of the Lions staff.
What will it mean for Russell? Hard work — and listening — on both sides has put the relationship between the stand off and his national coach in a much better place than we saw at the time of that unholy schism in the early months of 2020, and while Townsend is in no doubt as to the
28-year-old’s talent, it will be interesting to discover whether he will back him over the steadier hands of Johnny Sexton or Dan Biggar.
That decision forms part of a bigger question as to how far he will seek to push Warren Gatland away from tried and tested methodology. There is a school of thought that only by playing a bit of rugby, daring to dream a little, can the Lions hope to beat the world champions, but Townsend’s own approach has become more measured and multi-layered since he took over from Vern Cotter and vowed to play “the fastest rugby in the world”. The Lions is no place for dogmatism of any hue, and the pragmatic streak that Townsend has shown post-Japan may well have sealed the deal on his own inclusion.
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In each of the last two Six Nations, he has overseen three wins, with this year’s batch including historic away triumphs over France and England. What he hasn’t managed yet is to turn Scotland into genuine title contenders, despite being able to call on a squad where the depth and level of individual talent is better than at any time in the professional era.
The Lions is Townsend’s chance to be a winner — just as he was in 1997, the 1999 Five Nations and when coaching Glasgow to the Pro12 title in 2015. For Telfer in 1983 and Ian McGeechan six years later, Lions coaching involvement was the precursor to a Scottish Grand Slam the following season. Townsend will hope this experience helps propel him to the next level too.