Scotland coach Gregor Townsend\u2019s future was under intense scrutiny after defeat last weekend, but his \u2060side bounced back to produce yet another victory over England and keep up an impressive record in the Calcutta Cup.<\/p>\n
The 18-15 loss \u200cin Rome was a poor start to the Six Nations and saw several calls for \u200cTownsend\u2019s long tenure to be ended, but he will be \u200cthe toast of the town again after a 31-20 victory at Murrayfield on \u200cSaturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Gregor was under pressure this week, and it’s great \u200cthat we managed to put that performance out today,\u201d said fly-half Finn Russell<\/a>, who turned in a virtuoso performance and a 100% return with the boot.<\/p>\n \u201cActually, Gregor \u200chad a bit of a go at us \u2060at half-time and said, \u2018Let\u2019s keep being \u200caggressive, keep attacking\u2019. I think England<\/a> had a lot of territory in the \u200bsecond half, but we couldn’t do it as much, but the mindset for this week was all just go after England, \u200bgo at them.<\/p>\n \u201cThere’s only so much a coach can do. It’s us that’s out there, so we’ve got to take ownership of what \u2060happens on the pitch and \u200bI think that’s what we did today,\u201d added Russell, who said he and his teammates were \u201cphysically and emotionally drained\u201d after losing to Italy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Townsend, who has won six of nine matches against England as a coach in the \u200cSix Nations, was full of praise for his team after making some bold selection calls in recent matches.<\/p>\n “After 20 minutes, I thought that was some of the best rugby we’ve ever played. It’s all you want as a coach, and then to see the effort in the second half, we became a team that would fight for each other and the supporters.<\/p>\n “We know that being very aggressive and playing at speed brings out the best in us. I thought that was one \u200cof Finn Russell’s best games for Scotland<\/a>, and the work rate of \u200bour forwards was superb.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are so many games that you \u200cplay well, but the opposition play well too, and they can get narrow wins or come back and win. <\/p>\n “We know we’re up there with the teams we come up against; sometimes you can’t get the win, but we’re really pleased we got it \u2060today,\u201d added Townsend, whose contract takes \u2060him through to the World \u200cCup in Australia next year.<\/p>\n