Gregor Townsend welcomes roof for Scotland's Rugby World Cup opener as 2003 memories stirred

The tournament will be returning to Australia after a 24-year absence and the national coach hopes it will be as memorable as it was in 2003.

Townsend played then in what was the fifth edition of the World Cup, helping Scotland reach the quarter-finals. That’s got to be the aim again next year after the Scots failed to make it out of their group in Japan in 2019 and France in 2023.

There is a new, expanded format for 2027, with the 24 teams divided into six groups of four. Scotland are in Pool D with Ireland, Uruguay and Portugal and their matches are spread across Australia. They will face Uruguay in Melbourne, on October 3, Ireland in Perth on October 10 and Portugal in Brisbane on October 17.

Closed roof will add to atmosphere

Townsend has been accompanied on the trip by Scotland team manager David Edge and Sam Dodge, who joined recently from Ulster as the national team’s head of athletic performance, taking over from Stuart Yule. It started in Melbourne where they visited the Docklands Stadium, venue for Scotland’s opener. The coach was impressed, particularly by the retractable roof.

“It guarantees good conditions to play rugby and it's quite a sporting city Melbourne,” said Townsend.

“Australia put on outstanding sporting events and tournaments. I was fortunate enough to play the last time the World Cup was in this country and it was so well supported. And now the stadiums are bigger, more modern than they were back then. It'll be one of the first games of the World Cup here and the roof does create a noisier atmosphere.”

Townsend is hopeful there will be plenty of support for Scotland, both from expats and travelling fans.

“I know there's a lot of people tying in that once in a lifetime trip to Australia to also watch the Rugby World Cup,” he said. “And there's a lot of friends and families that have moved to Australia.

“I've got a few friends whose daughters are now out here living here, so they're timing their visit to catch up with them at the same time as the World Cup. We're really hopeful that the Scots will turn out for our games.

“The game in Perth is going to be a clash of Scotland against Ireland, so I'm sure there'll be a lot of expat Irish going to that game too, but that's brilliant. To be able to play your local rival that we play every year in the Six Nations on the other side of the world will be pretty special.”

The Ireland game will be pivotal to who wins the group. Whoever comes out on top in Pool D will face a third-placed team in the round of 16 while the runners-up will have a tougher tie against the Pool E winners, most likely to be France.

Townsend is a long-time admirer of the Australians’ love of sport and spent time in New South Wales as a young player. He had two spells with the Warringah club in Sydney and then returned to Australia for the 2003 World Cup.

A sporting culture

“It's a sporting culture, it's an outdoor culture,” he said. “The weather obviously helps but I think it's more than the weather. There's a huge competitiveness and love of sport, the benefits of exercise, getting behind whatever code it is.

“There's obviously more than one code here. I think everybody will get behind rugby too, even if they're a [Australian Rules] footy fan or a rugby league fan, they know that this tournament is a huge one off. So they'll get behind the sport, they'll be cheering on their team, but I'm sure they'll be wishing all the other teams the best too.”

Under Ian MacGeechan, Scotland reached the last eight in 2003 but lost to Australia 33-16 in the quarter-finals in Brisbane. The Wallabies went on to beat New Zealand in the semis but lost in the final to England, with Jonny Wilkinson kicking a winning drop goal in extra time.

“It was great just to be in Australia for the tournament,” said Townsend. “I'd played a couple of seasons much earlier in Sydney. So I just loved living in Australia and playing rugby in Australia.

“To have the tournament there was fantastic. I think it just blew us away how well supported the event was. We had a game in Brisbane on a Monday night against USA and it was a sellout crowd. So it was the first World Cup I feel that really showed what rugby was capable of from an event point of view.

“I'd played in the one four years before and it wasn't big crowds at all. So Australia made a difference and obviously it was a great tournament, Australia going to the final. We won't talk about who won but we played Australia and we lost in the quarter-final but yeah, it showed rugby in a great light.”

Townsend is planning to visit the other cities where Scotland will be based.

“We’re probably six months into our preparation,” said Townsend. “We've still got another 18 months to go. This is really important, knowing what the potential hotel, training facility and stadiums look like. We'll share that with the rest of the staff. The plan for what we do going into the tournament is already almost complete in terms of our games, but there's still a lot of work to do from the day to day.

“Planning is important. We have a lot of time as international coaches and staff to do that. I think also making sure that we are not just physically ready for the tournament. A lot of teams focus on being physically ready. It's the start of our season for the teams in the north, so you've got a real pre-season to build into it, but being mentally ready, being relaxed. Enjoying the fact you're coming to the World Cup, that you're going to play your best rugby. That's a hard balance to get, but that's what we're aiming to do.”