Gregor Townsend's Scotland tenure reaches another key staging post amid uncertain future

Not many of the so-called Tier 1 rugby nations visit Fiji so when they do, it is a big deal. That’s not to say the hospitality will extend into the weekend. As Matt Fagerson noted, Fijians may be “the nicest people” but he expects them to “flick the switch” when they take to the field against Scotland on Saturday.

Gregor Townsend has also enthused about Fiji’s “friendly culture” but the Scotland boss might just be experiencing a few unpleasant flashbacks on his return to Suva - he lost there as both player and coach.

The former was a particularly egregious occasion as Jim Telfer’s tourists were whipped 51-26 in 1998. It was the first time Fiji had beaten a Five Nations side, a joyful pitch invasion followed and Scotland were labelled “a laughing stock”.

Swashbuckling Fiji shocked Scotland

Nineteen years later Townsend was the freshly appointed national coach when he took Scotland on tour. His reign got off to a fine start with a 34-13 win over Italy in Singapore and this was followed by a more impressive 24-19 victory against Australia in Sydney, with Finn Russell pulling the strings.

They arrived in Suva looking to make it three from three but slumped to a shock 27-22 defeat against a swashbuckling Fiji.

It was an early indicator that coaching Scotland is never predictable and Townsend this week returns to the Fijian capital for what feels like another important staging post in his career. He has spoken already about the game’s significance in terms of ranking points; Scotland are currently seventh in the World Rugby standings, Fiji are ninth, and Townsend wants his team in the top six by the time the draw for the 2027 Rugby World Cup is made in December this year.

That would ensure Scotland are in the top tier of seeds for the expanded, 24-team tournament, thus avoiding the nightmare scenario of the last World Cup when the Scots were in the third seeding pot and ended up in the same pool as South Africa and Ireland.

Approaching nine years and over 100 games

An early exit ensued, for the second tournament in a row. The burning question now is will Townsend be around to lead Scotland into his third World Cup as head coach?

His contract expires next April, after the 2026 Six Nations, which will take his reign to almost nine years and over 100 games. Some feel that’s long enough and the coach has taken Scotland as far as he can. They have never finished higher than third in the Six Nations and Townsend has presided over two pool stage exits at the World Cup.

He was evasive last week when asked about his future. “Honestly, it's not something I've thought that much about,” he said, not entirely convincingly.

Pressed on how close he was to a contract extension, Townsend said: “Well, it's not really been discussed. It's not something that tends to get discussed when we're in campaigns. We don't have the time, really, and the focus is on making sure we prepare the team as well as we can this week and over the next two weeks.”

His answer was likely to come as a surprise to Alex Williamson, the Scottish Rugby chief executive, who envisaged having a good old chinwag with the coach about his future.

“I'm touring with Scotland and I'm going to have plenty of time with Gregor, and his manager is in New Zealand as well so that's all helpful,” Williamson said last month.

During the same media briefing Williamson said he was in favour of “continuity” when it came to the three main men’s coaching positions in Scottish Rugby: Edinburgh, Glasgow Warriors and the national team. With regards to the latter he felt “Scotland were one very small twist away from some great outcomes off the back of some exceptional rugby” and gave every indication that Townsend was still the man to lead Scotland.

Linked with roles in France

“I genuinely believe that he has the potential to produce our best outcomes going forward so that's why we're excited to have Gregor in the team,” said Williamson.

Whether Townsend wants to remain part of it is unclear. Asked directly if he would like to continue until 2027, he was evasive. “It's not something I've spent a lot of time thinking about,” he said. “This job gives me a huge purpose in my life, but it also demands a lot of energy. And just now that's where all my energy is going into helping the other coaches and the team.”

He was linked with the France attack coach’s role prior to signing his last contract extension in 2023 and there has also been speculation that he might fancy a club job in the Top 14. He has a good grasp of the language, had three different spells as a player in the French top flight and is something of a Francophile. At 52, he is in his prime years as a coach.

Opportunity and events will, of course, have a bearing on his next move. While a defeat for Scotland in Suva would be unlikely to lead to anything drastic it would certainly dampen the enthusiasm for offering Townsend another contract extension.

Fiji showed against Australia on Sunday that they are a formidable outfit at full strength. When they played at Murrayfield last November they were without their France-based players and lost 57-17. They are likely to be a different prospect altogether in Suva this weekend when all friendships will be put to one side, for 80 minutes at least.