Gregor Townsend has say on Steve Clarke Scotland departure after 'amazing' Boston experience

Townsend was at Boston Stadium to see Scotland win their opening game against Haiti and met with Clarke and his family post-match.

Things took a downturn in the next two games, with the defeats by Morocco and Brazil ending Scottish hopes of qualifying from the group stage for the first time.

Townsend had returned home by then and is now in Argentina preparing to lead his own squad into international competition. Scotland take on the Pumas in Cordoba on Saturday in the opening game of the new Nations Championship.

He enjoyed the fervour surrounding the Scotland football team’s return to the World Cup after a 28-year absence and expects a similarly passionate crowd to back Argentina this weekend.

Made me feel proud to be Scottish

“It was an amazing experience,” Townsend said of his flying visit to the World Cup. “There was so much optimism and joy going into the game. And to get to experience that as a supporter… You don't see that when you're a coach or a player. On a match day you're obviously dialed in to your job. So honestly it was wonderful.

“I felt so proud of the stories that were coming out. The days that followed that game in Boston. Proud to be Scottish.

“And also being involved in international sport. Knowing what that means and knowing how much love the supporters have for the national team at football. We feel it with the rugby team too. And how you can make a difference in people's lives. People were looking forward to that event, that trip, for months, some for years. And they seemed to enjoy it to the max. So it was great to get a little insight into that for two days.

“And obviously disappointed for Steve that he's no longer our manager. He always messaged me before games. I met him and his family after the Haiti game. It was great just chatting to him and his family. So I wish him all the very best in whatever he decides to do in the future.”

Townsend and Clarke’s longevity in their respective jobs has been another common link and the former’s departure came seven years after he was appointed, despite his signing a new four-year deal shortly before the tournament in the US. Things turned sour for Clarke a mere matter of days after leading Scotland to only their fifth ever victory at a World Cup finals.

“Yeah, that’s sport, we know when we go into it, the highs and lows of winning and losing are there, no matter what level you coach at,” said Townsend, who has been in post for nine years and is on course to take charge of Scotland at a Rugby World Cup for the third time next year.

High level of scrutiny

“You're scrutinised more, whether you're at a big club or especially at an international level. We go into the job not just because we want to experience the joys of winning or seeing people achieve things. We understand that there's some downsides too. So yeah, it's always tough for anybody involved when you lose and when you decide to move on from the role that you put so much effort into.”

Argentina remains gripped by World Cup fever, with Lionel Messi’s side still on course to retain the trophy they won four years ago. But the rugby team is also on the rise and are currently fifth in the world rankings, two places above the Scots who they beat so spectacularly at Murrayfield last November, scoring five tries in the final 24 minutes to turn a 0-21 deficit into a 33-24 victory.

Townsend insists lessons have been learned from that day and believes his players can now handle the type of momentum shift that characterised that autumn defeat.

Learning the lessons of autumn

“It is fresh in our minds because we talked about it this week,” said the coach. “That was a real painful lesson for us, but an important one, and very valuable to the team we've become over the last, I suppose, six games since we played Argentina.”

Scotland went on to have a good Six Nations, with a couple of outstanding performances in particular to beat England and France, and Townsend believes it showed they could handle the big shifts in dominance within matches.

“The game is full of momentum swings,” he said. “We've seen it at club level, we've seen it at international level. And you've got to notice when these momentum swings first appear and you've got to do something about it. And the work we did following that defeat came through in a lot of our games in the Six Nations.

“And momentum can be in your favour, like it was against England and France, and we were able to build on that. Or it can be against you, like it was in Italy and Wales. And the team showed in both those games that we were able to come back and win second halves and obviously in Cardiff win the game.

“Sometimes your biggest growth comes from a defeat. And I feel that that was the case against Argentina. And now we've got the opportunity to play them, to show the team we have become.”

Scotland will have to try to do it without Finn Russell, who is still recovering from a calf injury. Tom Jordan takes his place at stand-off and there are also starts for Rory Hutchinson at outside centre, Kyle Rowe at full-back. Jamie Dobie is preferred to Darcy Graham on the wing and Elliot Millar Mills starts at tighthead prop, with Zander Fagerson on the bench, alongside Graham.

For Argentina, lock Matias Alemanno will become the fifth player to reach 100 caps for the Pumas. Toulon’s Tomas Albornoz ​starts at fly-half, with Russell’s Bath team-mate Santiago Carreras ​at full-back.

Argentina v Scotland teams

Nations Championship, Estadio Mario Kempes, Cordoba, Saturday, 8.10pm BST. TV: live on ITV4.

Argentina: 15 Santiago Carreras; 14 Rodrigo ​Isgro, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Faustino Sanchez Valarolo, ​11 Mateo ⁠Carreras; 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Garcia; 1 Mayco Vivas, 2 Julian Montoya, 3 Pedro ⁠Delgado, ​4 Guido Petti, 5 Matias Alemanno, 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Santiago Grondona, 8 Joaquin Oviedo. Replacements: 16 Ignacio ​Ruiz, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Tomas Rapetti, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Joaquin Moro, 21 Agustin ​Moyano, 22 Matias Moroni, 23 Bautista Delguy.

Scotland: 15 Kyle Rowe; 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (capt), 11 Jamie Dobie; 10 Tom Jordan, 9 Ben White; 1 Pierre Schoeman, 2 Ewan Ashman, 3 Elliot Millar Mills, 4 Jonny Gray, 5 Scott Cummings, 6 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge, 8 Jack Dempsey. Replacements: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Alex Samuel, 20 Gregor Brown, 21, George Horne, 22 Fergus Burke, 23 Darcy Graham.