{"id":159566,"date":"2025-09-21T20:49:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T20:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/159566\/"},"modified":"2025-09-21T20:49:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T20:49:10","slug":"new-townsend-deal-brilliant-news-says-scottish-rugby-legend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/159566\/","title":{"rendered":"New Townsend deal ‘brilliant’ news, says Scottish rugby legend"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n The decision by Scottish Rugby bosses has divided opinion among supporters, but McGeechan \u2013 the last man to guide Scotland to a major trophy when he and Jim Telfer<\/a> coached the team to the 1999 Five Nations title \u2013 believes it was the right call. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI think it\u2019s the right move for Scotland,\u201d he said, while describing\u00a0Townsend\u2019s new contract, which will see him lead Scotland to a third Rugby World Cup, as \u201cbrilliant\u201d news.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n Sir Ian McGeechan has given his backing to Gregor Townsend(Image: Getty Images for Sale Sharks)\n<\/p>\n

\n McGeechan added: \u201cWe\u2019ve got a coach here that\u2019s ahead of most, not just in Scotland. And I think he\u2019ll keep pushing the game, which is going to be important, I think.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n And the man who led the Lions to their series win over then-world champions South Africa back in 1997 believes Scotland are not far away from becoming serious challengers to win titles. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n “You need a good forward performance for a good back group,\u201d he said. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cScotland have got a good game, and Gregor will say it all the time, it\u2019s just the consistency of execution at key moments. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been in enough game-winning positions, just not quite seeing it off, sometimes.”\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n McGeechan picked Townsend at fly-half for all three tests on that Lions tour 28 years ago and has kept in touch with the current Scotland boss, though he did not discuss the nature of their conversations. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n Townsend was one of several Scotland players involved in the 1997 tour success who went on to help Scotland win the Five Nations two years later. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n McGeechan believes the experience gained by the Scotland contingent on this summer\u2019s series win over Australia this summer could be a “hugely\u201d significant in turning the fortunes of the national team. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n The Lions legend believes Finn Russell & Co will have learned so much from the summer’s tour(Image: David Davies)\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cGoing back to Gregor in 1997, when you play with the very best, it shows you what you can do and what it brings out of yourself.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cAnd I think Finn Russell<\/a>, how he performed with the players he had around him, showed the same. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cYou come back with a confidence, but also I think with a better understanding collectively of what the game can be like and the sort of role you can play.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n McGeechan, 78, was hoping to catch up with Townsend on his return to Edinburgh over the weekend. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n He is now consultant director of rugby at Doncaster Knights and was in the stands to give the coaching team advice in their win over a young Edinburgh Rugby<\/a> team on Friday. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n Read more:\n<\/p>\n

\n He was pleased with what he saw \u2013 not just from the CHAMP Rugby side.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe were good,\u201d he declared of the Knights, who won a 12-try encounter 43-33. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe weren\u2019t very good first half, really. We talked very clinically about it at half-time and changed just a couple of things, and suddenly it looked a different game.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n But McGeechan was also encouraged by the performances of the young Edinburgh players. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n Edinburgh fly-half Ross Wolfenden caught the eye against Doncaster(Image: Mark Runnacles\/Shutterstock)\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI thought the Edinburgh boys played well, the young boys, so from a Scottish perspective I was quite pleased to see what might be coming through,\u201d he continued.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n And the legendary coach, who was also at the helm when Scotland won the 19990 Grand Slam, also provided a welcoming update on his own health. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n McGeechan was diagnosed with prostate cancer in May this year but revealed he is currently in good health. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cGot the all-clear at the moment,\u201d he confirmed.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The decision by Scottish Rugby bosses has divided opinion among supporters, but McGeechan \u2013 the last man to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159567,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-159566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}