Sport Rugby Union
By Richard Bath
at Allianz Riviera, Nice
Gregor Townsend has admitted
that the scale of Scotland’s 32-3
defeat by France in Nice on Satur-
day night could force a rethink on
his selection plans for this week-
end’s return fixture at Murrayfield.
The Scotland coach was clearly
taken aback by the nature of his
side’s defeat. “There’s a lot of work
to do, we expected a better perfor-
mance,” he said.
Townsend conceded that the loss
- his first match as Scotland coach
in which his side have failed to
score a try – may force him to reas-
sess his approach to this weekend’s
game as Scotland try to rebuild the
confidence dented by the five-try
defeat. “We had a plan for the first
two games and there were going to
be a number of changes for next
week and there might now be less
changes,” Townsend said. “But
there’s a group of players who were
not involved tonight who will get a
chance next week, and some guys
will have to go again.’
‘‘Some players won’t get the op-
portunity to rectify this perfor-
mance next week,” he said. “It’s a
timely reminder to those playing
their first game of the season just
how tough international rugby can
be if you’re not switched on and
don’t make your tackles, which is
what happened a few times to-
night.”
Captain Stuart McInally admit-
ted that the hot, sweaty conditions
in Nice, which are similar to Japan,
had been particularly problematic.
“We were disappointed with our
Scotland coach ‘expected
a better performance’
Players will be axed after
five-try defeat in Nice
ball retention,” said the hooker. “It
was a slippy ball but we didn’t really
react very well to that.”
Townsend’s analysis that France
were more match-ready partly be-
cause they had picked a more expe-
rienced and settled side contained
an element of truth, but it did not
tell the whole story.
The French back row trio of No 8
Gregory Alldritt, openside Charles
Ollivon and debutant blindside
Francois Cros, who did so much
damage with their offloading
charges through Scotland’s de-
fences while also winning the phys-
ical battle at the breakdown, boast
just 12 caps between them, while
try-scoring wing Alivereti Raka was
making his Test debut.
Expect to see openside Hamish
Watson starting on Saturday. Ex-
pect not to see Josh Strauss again.
There were, however, some in-No way through:
Scotland wing
Byron McGuigan
is tackled by
French try-scorer
Alivereti RakaBatley Bulldogs scrum-half Archie
Bruce was found dead in his hotel
bedroom shortly after making his
debut for the Betfred Champion-
ship club at the weekend.
The 20-year-old came on as a
replacement in the 46-0 defeat
away to Toulouse, with the club de-
scribing him as appearing enthused
by the experience after the match.
Bruce had been training with
Batley with a view to playing for
them next season, but “his energy
and enthusiasm” prompted head
coach Matt Diskin to hand Bruce
his first professional appearance.
Bulldogs said he “made a great
impact with darting runs” when he
came on for the last 30 minutes of
the match in the south of France.
They went on to describe him as a
“smart, polite, funny and extremely
likeable young man” and called his
death “an absolute tragedy”.
Bruce impressed with amateur
side Dewsbury Moor before joining
Bulldogs, the West Yorkshire club
ninth in the Championship. Dews-
Townsend in rethink after France rout
Bulldogs debutant found dead
RUGBY LEAGUE
teresting signs of Townsend’s
thinking ahead of the announce-
ment of the 31-man World Cup
squad after the first Georgia Test.
The first concerned centre Duncan
Taylor, whom Townsend lauded.
“Duncan Taylor was excellent,”Townsend said. “He was one of our
best players, I thought his work in
defence was outstanding.”
Townsend also addressed a
second-half experiment where he
tried tighthead props Zander Fager-
son and Simon Berghan on the
loosehead. The Scotland coach
admitted he was still in two minds
as to whether to take five or six
props to Japan, although neither
Jamie Bhatti nor Berghan advanced
their case as Scotland’s scrum was
bested by the French.
“These games are a chance to
look at combinations that can be of
benefit for the World Cup,” he said.
“We’ve got six props in our squad
and we’re either going to take five
or six – if we choose to take five
then one of the looseheads will
need to cover tighthead, or vice
versa. We’ll have a look at it and see
if we repeat it over the remaining
three games.”
Scores 5-0 Raka try; 7-0 Lopez con; 10-0 Lopez pen;
15-0 Medard try; 15-3 Hastings pen; 20-3 Alldritt try;
25-3 Medard try; 30-3 Dupont try; 32-3 Lopez con.
France M Medard; D Penaud (T Ramos 65), G Fickou,
W Fofana (R Ntamack 67), A Raka; C Lopez, A Dupont
(B Serin 65); J Poirot, C Chat (P Mauvaka 56), R Slimani
(E Setiano 56), P Gabrillagues (F Lambey 72),
S Vahaamahina, F Cros, C Ollivon, G Alldritt (L Picamoles
62). Replacement D Priso.
Scotland S Hogg (B Kinghorn 56); D Graham, H Jones,
D Taylor (R Hutchinson 48), B McGuigan; A Hastings,
A Price (G Horne 56); J Bhatti (Z Fagerson 41), S McInally
(G Turner 67), S Berghan (G Reid 52), B Toolis
(S Cummings 56), G Gilchrist, J Barclay (M Fagerson 52),
J Ritchie, J Strauss. Sin-bin Hastings (33).
Referee Nigel Owens (Wales).bury posted on their website:
“Archie played rugby league at
Dewsbury Moor since under-8s and
at the age of 20 had been playing in
the NCL open age team for a couple
of years. We are immensely proud
that Archie made his debut for
Batley Bulldogs last night. Our
thoughts and prayers are with
Archie’s family, team-mates and
friends at this extremely sad time.”
England and St Helens prop Alex
Walmsley, who was born in Dews-
bury and started his career with the
Bulldogs, also expressed his shock.
“Incredibly sad news, my condo-
lences go out to his family, friends
and team-mates at both Batley and
Dewsbury Moor. RIP Archie,”
Walmsley wrote on social media.
Toulouse offered their condo-
lences to Bruce’s family, friends and
the club, adding: “We will do our
maximum to support them.”
A minute’s silence was observed
in Bruce’s memory before yester-
day’s five Championship matches.
The RFL Benevolent Fund has
created a Just Giving Page in
Bruce’s name.‘Extremely
likeable’: Archie
Bruce’s death
was a ‘tragedy’‘You
need
to be
switched
on and
make
your
tackles ’
The Daily Telegraph Monday 19 August 2019 *** 23
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