Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu has stepped forward to shield under-pressure head coach Gregor Townsend from mounting criticism, declaring that he and the players must shoulder the responsibility for the team's recent disappointing performances.
Pressure Mounts After Murrayfield Collapses
Pressure is intensifying on head coach Gregor Townsend following a bruising sequence of results at Murrayfield. The situation escalated after last weekend's capitulation to Argentina, which came hard on the heels of a failure to close out a game against the All Blacks from a commanding position the previous weekend.
Supporters voiced their frustration by booing the team off the pitch after the loss to the Pumas, a result that saw Scotland slide to ninth in the world rankings. Despite growing calls from fans for him to resign after eight years in charge, Townsend stated on Friday that he had given no thought to stepping aside.
Captain's Honest Assessment and Full Backing
The former fly-half received significant public backing from his captain, Sione Tuipulotu. The Glasgow centre, who is the only player from last week's starting XV to retain his place for Sunday's match against Tonga, insisted that Townsend remains the best man to lead the country into the next Rugby World Cup.
Instead, Tuipulotu believes the accountability for the on-field collapse against Argentina, after being 21-0 ahead, lies squarely with the players. “I don’t think I’ve ever stood in front of you and not spoken honestly,” Tuipulotu said. “And my honest answer is I’m fully behind my head coach. So are all the players. And I take a lot of accountability for what happened on the weekend.”
He elaborated, “I’m the captain of the team and Gregor’s not down there playing rugby. He’s put us in a position to get up by 21 points. And I take accountability as the captain of the squad for the reason we let that lead slide. As captain, you’ve got to figure out a way to inspire your troops to do that and to stop the momentum.”
A Confronting Week and a Path Forward
Tuipulotu revealed that the squad has endured a brutally honest week of reviews in the aftermath of the defeat to Argentina. He described it as “one of the most difficult and confronting weeks I’ve had in camp as a Scotland player,” but also one that was necessary.
The squad held individual meetings, team meetings, and players-only meetings to dissect why the game went so wrong and why their performance levels were unacceptable. Tuipulotu hopes the candour of these conversations will benefit the group in the long run.
Looking ahead, the captain acknowledged the challenge of proving their progress in a single game against Tonga. He stated that the focus is now on improvement and building towards the Six Nations, using the hurt from the losses to Argentina and New Zealand as fuel. “It’s just about us using that hurt we’re feeling after Argentina and New Zealand to try to progress,” he added.
