Scotland manager Gregor Townsend defended his team’s four-match tour of the Americas, which concludes this weekend with a match against Uruguay in Montevideo.
Scotland have beaten Canada, USA and Chile so far and while their rivals are rested, Townsend’s side play their final game before the break.
The 2023 Rugby World Cup, with warm-up matches for the international matches preceding it adding to a gruelling schedule, has made it a long season for all international players.
Real freshness
But Townsend is backing the tour, insisting the players are well managed and believes playing Test matches on the other side of the Atlantic would be a welcome change.
“A World Cup year goes like this but a Lions year is very similar,” the Scotland manager said ahead of this Saturday’s final match.
“Everybody was aware of that at the start of the season so the players have had different rest periods. Some were rested after the World Cup and obviously some are resting now. So it’s not like we’ve been training and playing non-stop since that period in May last year.”
“They are very well managed within their clubs and we have seen a real freshness and sharpness from them on this tour, particularly the Scotland-based players.
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“We check the GPS regularly and the players are at top speed. They are working hard to finish the season in top form. And change is often as good as rest. When we go on tours that take us to new venues, like we are in Uruguay this week, it gives us a boost of energy.”
“We’ve seen the energy and we’ve seen the energy from the young guys that have been in camp and it’s changed the atmosphere in the group, so we’re not seeing any signs of fatigue, but we know the players definitely deserve the rest they can get after this tour.”
Scotland will be hoping to finish the game with a flourish against Uruguay, but Duhan van der Merwe has the chance to become Scotland’s all-time leading try scorer. He is currently level with Stuart Hogg on 27 tries, a record the winger will be aiming to beat, with centre Huw Jones aiming for his 50th cap.
But while it may be a special day for the pair, younger players are also benefiting from the tour, with Townsend hitting back at critics of the standard of Scotland’s opposition.
“It’s not something we chose to do. We’ve been given the summer tour schedule and we have to make the most of it,” the manager said of last month’s one-sided fixtures.
“Initially it was just two matches against Canada and the United States but we decided to extend the matches to allow us to have more players on the tour for a period of time and we believe we will reap the benefits.”
“The players have already played Test rugby and realised how special it is so they will be hugely motivated by being involved again and being in a Test environment with the coaches that are here, particularly the Test players.”
“It’s about getting the depth of the squad and there are other challenges, such as going into a championship match, but so far the players have stuck to their guns and played extremely well.”
team
Uruguay: 15 Ignacio Alvarez, 14 Juan Bautista Hontu, 13 Juan Manuel Alonso, 12 Tomás Inciarte, 11 Nicolas Freitas, 10 Felipe Echeverri, 9 Santiago Alvarez, 8 Carlos Deus, 7 Lucas Bianchi, 6 Manuel Aldao, 5 Manuel Reindekar, 4 Felipe Arriaga, 3 Diego Albero, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 1 Ignacio Pecco
replacement: 16 Joaquin Mushka, 17 Matteo Sanguinetti, 18 Reinaldo Piussi, 19 Diego Magno, 20 Santiago Civetta, 21 Manuel Diana, 22 Santiago Gini, 23 Joaquin Suarez
Scotland: 15 Harry Patterson, 14 Kyle Rowe, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ben Healy, 9 George Horne, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge (captain), 6 Luke Crosby, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Max Williamson, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Euan Ashman, 1 Rory Sutherland
replacement: 16 Patrick Harrison, 17 Pierre Schaumann, 18 Murphy Walker, 19 Gregor Brown, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Jamie Dobie, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Kyle Stein
date: Saturday, July 27
venue: Estadio Charrua, Montevideo
kick off: 17:00 local time (20:00 BST)
Referee: Damien Schneider (UAR)
Assistant Referee: Mathieu Raynal (FFR), Luc Ramos (FFR)
TMO: Ollie Hodges (IRFU)
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