{"id":460176,"date":"2026-02-05T13:57:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T13:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/460176\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T13:57:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T13:57:08","slug":"scotlands-townsend-calls-newcastle-links-disruptive-before-six-nations-six-nations-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/460176\/","title":{"rendered":"Scotland\u2019s Townsend calls Newcastle links \u2018disruptive\u2019 before Six Nations | Six Nations 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gregor Townsend has claimed reports he is to take over at Newcastle after the 2027 World Cup is an attempt to \u201cdisrupt\u201d Scotland before the Six Nations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 52-year-old last year took on a consultancy role with Red Bull, who own Newcastle and it was reported on Thursday that Townsend will take charge of the Prem club when his contract with Scotland expires after next year\u2019s World Cup in Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it\u2019s pure speculation,\u201d the head coach said at a press conference in Edinburgh on Thursday after naming his team to face Italy on Saturday. \u201cI\u2019ve not signed a contract beyond the World Cup with anybody, so it\u2019s a story that I think is being put out there to try to disrupt ahead of this game or next week\u2019s game against England.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just something that comes out, things like this, I think ahead of the England game in particular. But yeah, there\u2019s no truth in that I\u2019ve signed a contract beyond the World Cup. My focus is on the Scotland team right now and hopefully up until the World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if he was concerned such stories may have a negative impact on his squad, Townsend said: \u201cNo, not at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Townsend has made the bold call to drop what has generally been his first-choice back three in recent seasons for Saturday\u2019s clash in Rome\u2019s Stadio Olimpico, with Blair Kinghorn and Duhan van der Merwe out of the 23 altogether and Darcy Graham on the bench.<\/p>\n

Bristol\u2019s Tom Jordan gets the nod at full-back, with the in-form Glasgow pair Jamie Dobie and Kyle Steyn preferred on the wings to Scotland\u2019s record-try scorer Van der Merwe and Graham, who is second on that list.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlair, Duhan and Darcy have had some terrific games for us and they\u2019re very proud of playing for Scotland,\u201d said Townsend. \u201cBut there\u2019s competition in that back-three area like there is in other positions and we feel Jamie, Kyle and Tom deserve their starts given how well they\u2019ve been playing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel all three of them individually have taken games to the opposition. But the three players that weren\u2019t selected, they\u2019re quality players. If or when they get back into the squad or they get an opportunity off the bench, like Darcy will on Saturday, we know we\u2019re going to have hungry players desperate to get back in the starting team. But for now, we\u2019re really pleased with that back three, how they\u2019ve been playing but also how they\u2019ve been combining in training.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bristol\u2019s Tom Jordan will start at full-back for Scotland on Saturday. Photograph: Jamie Johnston\/Focus Images Ltd\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Townsend has otherwise selected a familiar lineup, with nine of the XV having started on the last visit to Rome in March 2024, when Scotland crashed to a dismal 31-29 defeat<\/a>. The head coach admitted memories of that match will \u201csharpen the minds\u201d of his players.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know what Italy can do when they have that crowd energy behind them,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re two years further on in their development too and they are a cohesive team. A lot of that backline have played together, they\u2019ve got some quality forwards. They beat Australia in November so it\u2019s one of the toughest teams now to play in world rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Wales have named Louis Rees-Zammit at full-back to take on England as they try to arrest a run that has seen them fail to win a Six Nations match since 2023. Rees-Zammit has not played in the tournament for three years, announcing his decision to leave rugby union for an 18-month spell in the NFL<\/a> on the eve of the 2024 competition.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old Bristol player made his Wales comeback in the autumn, but this will be only the fourth time in 36 Tests that he will have started at full-back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love it. It allows me to get more touches on the ball in open field, it suits my game,\u201d Rees-Zammit said about playing full-back in a pre-tournament interview with the BBC. \u201cI much prefer it. I\u2019ve played 15 in the past for Wales, but I think now I\u2019m kind of seen as a 15 that can play on the wing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s game will be the first time Rees-Zammit has played at the Allianz Stadium for Wales. On paper it looks a mismatch, with Wales having lost 21 of their last 23 Tests and England winning 11 in a row. Wales have finished bottom of the Championship for the last two years.Steve Tandy, the Wales head coach, said: \u201cWales v England is always a special game with all the history behind the fixture. We know they\u2019re playing some outstanding rugby and they\u2019re in great form. But I know how much it means to our players playing for the nation and representing Wales. The way the squad trained this week has been great. I want to see us get out and really attack the game on Saturday and give the best account of ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gregor Townsend has claimed reports he is to take over at Newcastle after the 2027 World Cup is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-460176","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\/460176","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=460176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}