Some standards seem to be more acutely applied than others.
On the back of their fourth loss in five games on Saturday, New Zealand head coach Ian Foster’s position is largely held to be untenable.
Just over a year out from the Rugby World Cup, it seems the NZRU will tear up their carefully laid plans to regain the Webb Ellis Cup in France next year and start over.
If the mighty All Blacks aren’t scared to bite the bullet, why aren’t Scotland?
Saturday night’s abysmal defeat to Argentina, in my estimation, is a reason to finally panic.
Gregor Townsend had a diminishing benefit of the doubt heading into the third test in Santiago de Estero. After a lamentable performance in the first test, a re-cast team finally found their pace in the second half of the second test to record a comfortable victory.
To go from there to Saturday, losing a 15-point lead and the game in the final quarter of the third test, counts among the worst performances under the current head coach.
Ultimately a dreadful season
https://youtu.be/JaKfuMxrj-s
It’s ultimately been a dreadful season for Scotland, after so much promise. The wins over Australia and England looked positive, but both could have easily swung the other way.
A more accurate illustration of where Scotland are at was seen against South Africa, France, Ireland and in Argentina. They were in it for a half against the Springboks, and blown away by the other two Six Nations losses.
Astonishingly, as he prepared for the first test in Argentina the other week, Townsend told the media that he considered the performance in Dublin to have been evidence of an upward trend again after the game against France.
“It was disappointing in the middle, that’s for sure,” he said of the Six Nations as the tour began. “We started well, and we feel we put our game in place the last two games against Italy and Ireland. That momentum was already beginning.”
I had to check back to make sure my memory was not deceiving me. Scotland were soundly thrashed 26-5 in Dublin in March – their worst defeat since the opening game of the Rugby World Cup in Japan.
That was progress? Seriously?
No plan, no trust
Scotland Head Coach Gregor Townsend shares his post-game thoughts on the third Argentina test.#AsOne pic.twitter.com/0hdiqU5IG7
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) July 17, 2022
Like many observers, I see no evidence of a plan or on-field strategy. Much less one that can overcome Ireland and South Africa in the crucial pool games at the World Cup.
It’s increasingly hard to believe the team actually trust in Townsend anymore.
There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that Townsend is marginalising our two most creative players of the moment. Not least in the utterly pointless cul-de-sac of promoting Blair Kinghorn as a 10.
I was previously in the pragmatic camp that we had to tolerate what was left of the Townsend era – surely ending anyway after the World Cup – as there was no-one else.
But now I don’t see there being any point with persisting with him when the team are as leaden as this.
Scotland currently have the best group of international players they’ve had this century.
The prime of their careers is being wasted with this directionless regime.
A change isn’t going to make anything worse. Even 14 months out from the World Cup, there’s now nothing to lose.