‘More of the same no longer good enough for Townsend’

You can tell when the most powerful player in Scottish rugby declares that more of the same from the national team is no longer sufficient.

David Nucifora, the performance director, most certainly delivered that message on Wednesday when he formally announced a number of fresh appointments and new ideas for the way the game is conducted in Scotland.

His contract extension extends to 2027 for Gregor Townsend. The Glasgow Warriors coach, Franco Smith, is also active.

A brand-new player pathway program has been created with experts from the likes of Team Andy Murray, GB Aquatics, the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the Major League Baseball (MLB) in addition to the artificial intelligence field.

Al Kellock, the managing director of Glasgow and the club’s hero, is a closer match for the top performance position and is likely to take the position from Nucifora when it comes time to take the top performance position.

The here and now was primarily about Townsend, but all those new department head managers are tasked with developing future talent.

Nucifora is a fan. He completely supports Townsend, applauds his efforts, and believes he deserves a better chance to do better. He describes him as the best.

He is currently in a position where our team is progressing nicely, leading to a 2027 World Cup, according to Townsend Townsend’s Nucifora. He now has a much larger, support- and bulk-focused high-performance department centered on him.

“Gregor is a person who is constantly striving to improve and improve.” He is a perplexing coach. He wants to discover ways to grow both the team and himself personally. When you lose your desire to learn and grow, you realize head coaches are likely to run their own time, and Gregor is undoubtedly not. He has never been more or more keen than he has ever been.

Nucifora was asked if his response to the Six Nations and World Cup performances was more of the same. No, in high performance you never sit still, he replied. You must constantly be evolving.

So more money for Townsend, but it seems there is also more pressure to deliver, even though his chief executive, Alex Williamson, would not discuss specific goals.

He asserted that “we’re not taking wins and losses as hard targets.” On that basis, I simply believe you fall head over your shoulders.

We are very focused on having the best coaches and what we believe to be a very talented group of players with more players coming through our pipeline, which puts us in the best position for the World Cup and, prior to that, the Six Nations.

Williamson was similarly questioned about whether or not Scotland would continue to finish somewhere in the Six Nations.

No, I don’t believe that would apply to any organization, regardless of whether it is high performance or not because, he said, “You are immediately going backwards at a rate of knots” when you become content with where you are.

We have a lot of ambitions; we’re making investments in our high-performance environment to levels that Scottish Rugby has never before made. This is the first indication of our intentions, I suppose, and I want to be the world’s premier rugby union.

So, there’s no pressure then. More resources will be provided for Townsend in physiotherapy, rehabilitation, nutrition, and other areas. These serve as the foundation for the new initiatives that Nucifora and Williamson have announced.

“I would say that our structure has been set up slightly in Gregor,” Williamson said. He will now have a full-time high-performance environment that is dedicated to him because we are changing that.

The men’s national team will have dedicated strength and conditioning physios, nutritionists, and coaching resources, Williamson said.

“He immediately receives a boost of, let’s say, 40% in terms of actual available time from individuals,” he says.

“And then we have a pathway that is being developed to enable players to progress both with their already-developed specialist skills and more quickly.

“I think they have everything they need to be the best version of the Scottish national team, both physically and mentally. We’re giving ourselves the best chance possible for success.

Scotland will face the United States, Argentina, New Zealand, and Tonga in four games in the fall. Before the Calcutta Cup takes place in Edinburgh a week later, their Six Nation campaign will kick off in Rome. Townsend will play for Scotland for the 100th time in that series.

The campaign, Townsend’s penultimate Six Nations, is completed by Wales, France, and Ireland. Third place is what he achieved in 2023 and 2018 with his best-place finish. On his watch, Scotland finished fourth on five occasions.

Is that adequate? Is it more consistent? A title challenge deserving of the name is unquestionably the goal in the course of this enormous effort to advance Scotland on all fronts.