Gregor Townsend sends pointed message to Scotland wingers and lifts lid on autumn post-mortem

Neither has hit top form in a season hampered by niggling injuries and van der Merwe found himself dropped by Scotland for the first time when he was left out of the matchday 23 for the autumn Test against New Zealand.

There is no guarantee he will return to the starting side for the Six Nations opener against Italy in Rome on February 7 but he was named on Tuesday in Townsend's 40-man squad for the championship, along with Graham.

Kyle Steyn is the form winger in the country currently and his Glasgow Warriors team-mate Jamie Dobie could make a persuasive case for not being too far behind, even though he is still seen primarily as a scrum-half.

But both van der Merwe and Graham have a strike-rate beyond compare and Townsend hopes they can rediscover their form with Edinburgh ahead of the Six Nations, starting with Friday's home game against the Bulls. But he made it clear that he expects them to be industrious when they come into camp and to show an appetite for getting on the ball and creating opportunities for others.

“They've still got a couple of games before they come in, so if they're both playing this week, which I hope they will be, then they've got to do as much as they can to put this selection under even more pressure than it currently is,” said Townsend.

“We've got a great bunch of wingers just now and we just want to see them back and thriving, getting on the ball, scoring tries, creating tries for others, working hard. I think once they're with us they'll be working hard I'm sure.

“The good thing is they're both fit, Darcy's had a couple of niggles, not too bad, Duhan's obviously just been out with a [calf] injury, but it looks like they're both fully fit again for this week.”

What the numbers say...

Van der Merwe and Graham are the leading try-scorers of all time for the Scotland's men's team with 35 and 34, respectively. No one in the current squad comes close to those numbers but neither player has set the heather alight this season.

Van der Merwe has scored a solitary try for Edinburgh in seven games while Graham has a respectable four in eight.

Steyn, meanwhile, has scored six tries in ten matches for Glasgow Warriors, four of them coming in the Champions Cup where Franco Smith’s side have been all-conquering, beating Sale, Toulouse, Clermont and Saracens, all with a bonus point. Dobie has gone one better, with seven in 10 for the Warriors and also bagged a hat-trick for Scotland in the thumping win over the USA in the autumn.

Glasgow’s stunning form in Europe has been recognised in Townsend’s squad, with 19 of the 40 players coming from the Scotstoun side. There are nine from Edinburgh, seven from clubs in England and five from clubs in France.

“The combination of players within a team at Glasgow, that's important,” said the coach. “That cohesion can be brought over to international rugby. So yeah, they're feeling really confident about their own games and that's great coming into the Six Nations.

“Between November and the Six Nations, the way the games are now with two European matches and two 1872 Cup derbies, two more European games, and I know there's one or two other games in there, but that's the best level with the intensity in Europe, but also the atmosphere and history with those 1872 Cup games. And Glasgow have been excellent during that period.”

Much to discuss after disappointing autumn

Progress stalled last year for Scotland. They finished fourth in the Six Nations, winning only two games for the second season in a row. The summer tour brought a defeat by Fiji which dented hopes of a top ranking in the Rugby World Cup draw. Then came the autumn series which was bookended by thrashings of the USA and Tonga but will be best remembered for a spirited fightback against New Zealand which fell short and a horrific collapse against Argentina which saw Scotland go from 21-0 ahead to a 33-24 defeat as they conceded five unanswered tries in the final 23 minutes.

Townsend said there had been “a lot of discussions” since.

“One is around, in particular, the Argentina game, how we manage periods in games where the opposition have momentum and we've got advantages. So these have been ongoing discussions with players because you get these swings in games all the time when a team goes up and comes back. So that's something we want to do better, absolutely.

“A lot of our game was what we wanted to see, what we'd worked on in training. And we were getting enough opportunities to win those two games [New Zealand and Argentina]. So finishing off opportunities is something we want to improve as well.”

Townsend has selected a Six Nations squad long on experience and short on surprises. A lot of these players have been around for a long time and the only fresh names are those of Liam McConnell and Freddy Douglas, the two exciting Edinburgh back-row forwards who have one cap apiece.

The coach has resisted the temptation to call up their team-mate Ollie Blyth-Lafferty but there is a place in the A squad for the teenage prop. Leicester lock Cam Henderson, Glasgow hooker Gregor Hiddleston, Bath centre Cam Redpath and Saracens flanker Andy Onyeama-Christie will also have to be content with a place in the A team who play an Italy XV in Rieti on eve of the Six Nations game in Rome.

Much has been made of how talented this generation of Scotland players is and Townsend made a tacit acknowledgement that they may not have long left to make their mark at international level.

“We know the opportunity is there for us,” he said. “The opportunity might not be there in a year's time or two years' time.

“We've got an experienced squad, I don't think it's an old squad. So who knows, players might have another two or three championships that are 30 or older. But I think they'll be excited. Excited that we're coming into our biggest annual tournament. Players coming on the back of really good form and good performances in Europe. And players coming back from injury that we missed in November. Zander [Fagerson] missed three of those games, Huw Jones is coming back. These are players that have played for the Lions so it definitely is a boost having more players available.”