Gregor Townsend eager for Scotland’s old heads to prolong international careers

Gregor Townsend is hopeful no Scotland players will decide to call time on their international careers in the wake of their demoralising World Cup pool-stage exit.

The Scots bowed out of the tournament on Saturday evening after a 36-14 thrashing at the hands of Ireland in Paris.

Former national team captains Stuart McInally and Stuart Hogg both announced earlier this year that they planned to retire after the World Cup to pursue other interests, although neither player ended up making an appearance at the showpiece in France.

Forwards WP Nel, 37, and Richie Gray, 34, are among those in the age range who may naturally be considering their futures, but Townsend would prefer to keep as many options in the fold as possible.

“I hope there are no retirements after this World Cup,” said the head coach as he reflected on the tournament on Sunday. “I think some of the older players in our squad have been some of our best performers.

“WP Nel is physically in the best shape of his life, he’s started more games for us this year than he ever has and he’s played really well.

“I thought Richie Gray was one our best players, if not the best, on the field on Saturday night. His physical ability is excellent, but also his desire to keep going at the opposition was great to see.

“So they are two of our older players and we obviously hope they are still available for the next couple of seasons.

“Whether it’s people retiring, or injury, or people not being selected because of form, we’ve got to have other players ready to go and we’ve seen that with our 33-man squad who have performed really well throughout the summer Tests and for some of them, against Romania and Tonga.”

As many supporters had feared when the draw was made back in 2020,