Gregor Townsend responds to Scotland shelf life question and has words of comfort for Ewan Ashman

The national side lost their Guinness Six Nations opener 18-15 to Italy on Saturday in monsoon conditions at the Stadio Olimpico. Townsend, who is in his ninth season in charge, admitted it had been a tough day in Rome against opponents who opened the scoring in the seventh minute and never relinquished their lead.

After conceding early tries to Louis Lynagh and Tomasso Menoncello, Scotland fought back through a first-half try from Jack Dempsey. Italy edged further ahead via two Paolo Garbisi penalties but a penalty from Finn Russell and a try by replacement scrum-half George Horne reduced Italy's lead to three points with 14 minutes remaining.

Scotland tried in vain to win the match, putting together 29 phases in the final play, but were eventually held up in the Italian 22.

Townsend finds himself under more scrutiny than ever before and was linked last week with a move to Newcastle Red Bulls. He already works part-time as a rugby consultant for Red Bull in tandem with his Scotland duties.

Asked by Scottish journalists after the match if he felt that every coach had a shelf life, Townsend said: “I think you [the media] can choose what narrative to write. Whether people think coaches are doing a good job and they're there longer, or whether it's time for change. You guys can choose [to write] that.

“I know this last two weeks - and I'm hugely proud of the effort at the end - I know what we've been working on and how it was coming out in training.

"It was disappointing that we allowed Italy to start ahead on the scoreboard. I was completely calm with how our players would respond to that. The weather, unfortunately, limited what we could do. But to give them that start made it very difficult.”

It was the first time since 2020 that Scotland had lost their opening game in the Six Nations. It's England next up at Murrayfield this Saturday followed by Wales away the following week in what is a condensed schedule with only one rest weekend.

Asked if this was as tough as it had been in coaching career, Townsend said: “Yeah, look, losing against Italy, it's happened before. But losing your first game of the championship is tough for everyone. We've done very well in recent championships with our starts, whether it's the first game or the second game. This is a blow. It's clearly a blow that we didn't get the win.

“Even though we've got this huge game next week ahead of us, which is always a standalone game, it's on the back of a defeat, so yes, it's tough for everybody right now.”

Scotland's lineout was a big problem in Rome - they lost five on their own throw - and Townsend defended hooker Ewan Ashman who struggled with his throwing in.

“I thought he carried really well," said the coach. "He’s up there with the best hookers in the world right now in terms of his carrying.

“The lineout is [about] a lot more than just the hooker. It's calling, it's Italy putting two players up in the lineout. I thought they really went after the ball there. It's risk and reward. The risk is if you go up and the opposition catch it, then you're not set to defend the maul as well. But they were excellent in that area.

“It's a collective thing that we have to improve. And the lineout, it's been an area of strength [for Scotland]. Italy, especially in the first 20 minutes, won some crucial balls over us.”

Dave Cherry, the Vannes hooker, was recalled by Townsend for the Six Nations after drifting out of the international picture. The coach has cited Cherry's set-piece strength and he could come into contention for the England game.

“He might," said Townsend. "He's fully fit now. He'd obviously had the calf issues and we didn't consider him for this week. We'll look at the three [original] hookers in our squad [Ashman, Cherry and GeorgeTurner], and Gregor Hiddleston, who went well for the A team on Friday night.

“We'll have to address every position, especially after a defeat. This is a huge game for us next week.”

Townsend was frustrated by two moments in the second half against Italy which saw Scotland concede penalties while they had momentum. The first was a high tackle by Ashman, the second a dangerous clear-out by Turner which saw the replacement hooker sent to the sin-bin.

"We needed less of those penalties," said the coach. "It became big moments. The George Turner one, when we were close to the line. The Ewan Ashman one before that, where we'd won a penalty and we're getting out of our 22 and then it's turned around. Those are moments we'll look back and think we weren't under unnecessary pressure there. Once it was an attack, once it was in defence and control, we've given Italy easy ways into the game again.”

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