FILE PHOTO: Rugby Union - Six Nations Championship - Scotland v Wales - Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland, Britain - March 8, 2025 Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend arrives at the stadium before the match REUTERS/Russell Cheyne/File Photo
PARIS (Reuters) - Scotland coach Gregor Townsend’s future will come in for scrutiny over the coming days after another bottom-half finish in the Six Nations.
Although they provided France with stiff opposition on Saturday, their 35-16 defeat in Paris condemned Scotland to fourth place in yet another campaign where they showed potential but then fell short, losing three of their five fixtures.
Townsend, 51, has one more year left on his contract but there have been questions about whether the team would benefit from a change of coach.
This year’s Six Nations was typical of recent tournaments for the Scots – moments of top quality rugby but not enough consistency to challenge for the title.
One of the criticisms levelled at Scotland is their inability to deliver a complete 80-minute performance and the defeat at the Stade de France lent credence to that assessment, rattling the hosts but then fading after halftime.
In Townsend’s eight Six Nations campaigns as coach, Scotland’s best finish was third in 2018, in his first tournament in charge, and again in 2023.
At the two World Cups he has taken the team to, Scotland did not make it out of the group phase.
Scottish Rugby had set loftier goals and a new chief executive officer, Alex Williamson,has reiterated their ambitions, telling reporters earlier this year: “I think we can be highly influential on the international stage."
Townsend has previously shrugged off questions about his future and on Saturday bemoaned a lack of luck for his side.
"We are a quality side. It just didn't go our way this year. It is a very tough competition. Teams can't play well every game and no-one won a Grand Slam,” he added.
A narrow loss to England when missed kicks from mercurial flyhalf Finn Russell should have won them the game will rankle supporters most.
Beating the ‘Auld Enemy’ four times in the last five years has tempered the disappointment of not challenging for the Six Nations crown but this year’s bragging rights went to the English.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
