“They’re a hugely motivated team - they’re going to be tough opponents. “Tonga will probably view that game as a massive high in the history of them as a rugby team,” he said. There is no such threat to Townsend, who has considerable credit in the bank after steering the team to memorable victories at Twickenham and the Stade de France in last season’s Six Nations, but he is aware that a similar result would derail the progress of the past year and more – and he has used that 2012 match as a history lesson for his team in the build-up to this game. What is more, their return to Scotland will provide them with happy memories of a celebrated victory back in 2012, when a 21-15 win at Pittodrie spelled an end to Andy Robinson’s tenure as the home team’s head coach. However, they have been able to select their French-based players, and also have new Glasgow signing Walter Fifita – a formidable 6ft 5in presence on the wing –in their ranks. The visitors have had their own problems and have travelled without head coach Toutai Kefu as he continues to recover from a serious assault at his home in Australia.
Photograph: Ian MacNicol/AFP/Getty Images No way through at Pittodrie in November 2012 for Scotland’s Tim Visser, as Tonga won 21-15. The Warriors winger Rufus McLean is one of those rare counterattackers who can conjure up something out of nothing, and the Edinburgh lock Jamie Hodgson would have been capped by now but for the Covid-enforced cancellation of Scotland’s summer Tests against Georgia and Romania. The Edinburgh prop Pierre Schoeman and Glasgow centre Sione Tuipulotu appear sure to do so, with Schoeman in particular having been evidently ready for Test rugby for some time.
In the absence of Stuart Hogg, Finn Russell, Duhan van der Merwe, Chris Harris, Rory Sutherland and Jonny Gray, Townsend needs to hope that his new caps – four will start with another four on the bench – get up to speed quickly. But this opening Autumn Nations Series match at Murrayfield represents a significant risk, nonetheless, for Gregor Townsend’s team, due to their own depleted resources and the Tongans’ physical threat.Īs the game is being played outside the international window, Townsend is without his England- and France-based players, which, combined with injuries, deprives him of at least half a dozen players who would normally be in his starting lineup. F irst hurdles are there to be cleared in confident fashion, and that is precisely what Scotland should do against Tonga on Saturday afternoon before confronting tougher challenges against Australia, South Africa and Japan.
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