Gregor Townsend admits Scotland’s Six Nations ‘has not gone as we hoped’

Gregor Townsend has called on Scotland to banish recent disappointments by finishing their Six Nations tournament with a flourish. The Scots had high hopes going into the tournament but, after beating England in the first game, they saw their title hopes dashed with back-to-back defeats against Wales and France.

Townsend’s team finish up with two away matches, against Italy in Rome on Saturday and Ireland in Dublin next weekend and the head coach is hoping they can produce a level of performance in those games that underlines why there was so much optimism going into this year’s Six Nations.

“The tournament has not gone as we hoped or planned so far, that’s for sure,” he said. “We’ve suffered two defeats, which are disappointing. We know in both those games we could have played better, specifically in the last game against France when there were some moments that could have changed the flow of the game if we’d made the most of them and not allowed France to make the most of their opportunities.

“That was frustrating. But we have two games, two big tests away from home, and the players are all set on working to deliver their best performance. We feel if we get our performance right, we’re a match for any team in the world.”

Scotland have a good record in Italy, but Townsend wants to see a strong start this weekend and is delighted to have Hamish Watson and Matt Fagerson back after the key duo missed the defeat by France through illness and injury respectively.

They return amid five changes to the starting XV with the Glasgow winger Kyle Steyn making his Six Nations debut.

Steyn enjoyed a stunning first start for Scotland when he scored four tries against Tonga in October and he will now get another chance to make an