EDINBURGH, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Scotland coach Gregor Townsend’s future was under intense scrutiny after defeat last weekend, but his side bounced back to produce yet another victory over England and keep up an impressive record in the Calcutta Cup.
The 18-15 loss in Rome was a poor start to the Six Nations and saw several calls for Townsend’s long tenure to be ended, but he will be the toast of the town again after a 31-20 victory at Murrayfield on Saturday.
“I think Gregor was under pressure this week, and it's great that we managed to put that performance out today,” said flyhalf Finn Russell, who turned in a virtuoso performance and a 100% return with the boot.
“Actually, Gregor had a bit of a go at us at halftime and said, ‘Let’s keep being aggressive, keep attacking’. I think England had a lot of territory in the second half, but we couldn't do it as much, but the mindset for this week was all just go after England, go at them.
“There's only so much a coach can do. It's us that's out there, so we've got to take ownership of what happens on the pitch and I think that's what we did today,” added Russell, who said he and his teammates were “physically and emotionally drained” after losing to Italy.
Townsend, who has won six of nine matches against England as a coach in the Six Nations, was full of praise for his team after making some bold selection calls in recent matches.
"After 20 minutes, I thought that was some of the best rugby we've ever played. It's all you want as a coach, and then to see the effort in the second half, we became a team that would fight for each other and the supporters.
"We know that being very aggressive and playing at speed brings out the best in us. I thought that was one of Finn Russell's best games for Scotland, and the work rate of our forwards was superb.
“There are so many games that you play well, but the opposition play well too, and they can get narrow wins or come back and win. We know we're up there with the teams we come up against; sometimes you can't get the win, but we're really pleased we got it today,” added Townsend, whose contract takes him through to the World Cup in Australia next year.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Toby Davis)
