There’s no doubt that if Scotland have a poor autumn series, a disappointing Six Nations and a bad summer then Townsend will be in trouble. The new gig will be used as a stick to beat him with. It could get deeply uncomfortable.
“If we have a poor autumn, poor Six Nations, poor summer tour, then they’re going to criticise me as a head coach anyway and I don’t think they need to say it’s anything to do with Red Bull,” he says.
“My time, my focus, my connection with the players will be the same as it was before. The intention is to have as good an autumn as possible.
“Me being with Red Bull in the next couple of weeks and going to Austria to look at how they set up their facilities and academies isn’t going to get us over the line against the All Blacks – but it can add an extra layer to our experiences as a coaching group just like learning from the players that went to the [British & Irish] Lions.
“It’s not going to get us over the line and it’s not going to stop us winning those games and the criticism will come either way.”
Scotland’s autumn squad will be named on 21 October and, with the exception of Huw Jones, it looks like a fairly clean bill of health. That’s what everyone thought when the Six Nations was approaching, of course. Before too long, players started dropping like flies.
There will be a new defence coach in Lee Radford who replaces Steve Tandy, now the Wales coach.
Townsend is bullish on Scotland’s prospects for the coming season.
“The level of collective experience, individual experience, ability, depth, what we’ve gone through, good and bad – we’re in the best position that we’ve been in, in the time that I’ve been here,” he claims.
That’s a big call and, perhaps, it’s Townsend making himself a hostage to fortune.
“When you look at other teams that have had success, there’s a couple of common elements. One is player leadership, and we’ve now got some real leaders in our group. The other one is cap numbers, so now we’re getting into the top four or five in the world for caps in our team.
“We know we’re up against some brilliant teams again, but I feel that this team is in the best place ever, and I’m going to be a part of that for the next two years.”
The autumn beckons. For Townsend, it’s going to be one judgement day after another after another.
