Gregor Townsend never contemplated stepping down as Scotland head coach

Defiant Gregor Townsend insisted he gave no consideration to stepping down as Scotland head coach as pressure intensified in the wake of Sunday’s astonishing collapse against Argentina.

The long-serving 52-year-old was handed a contract extension in September until the 2027 World Cup, but back-to-back losses against New Zealand and the Pumas have brought fresh scrutiny on his position.

Asked on Thursday if he still had the appetite to lead the Scots forward after the body-blow of squandering a 21-0 lead to lose 33-24 against Argentina, Townsend said: “Yes, even more so. Maybe you don’t believe me, but this week it was really important I felt something different in our review about the way the players came together with the coaches.

“It’s painful, Sunday night was painful. Going through that last 20 minutes on Monday was painful, but the failures and how you respond to them make you the team you can be. I’ve been really encouraged on how that’s played through this week.”

Townsend’s side have slipped from fifth in the world rankings at the start of the 2023 World Cup to ninth – overtaken by England, Fiji, Argentina and Australia – after struggling to win matches against the game’s heavyweights over the past two years.

With many supporters and pundits turning on the head coach this week, he was grilled by media in Edinburgh after naming his team to face Tonga on Sunday, but refuted suggestions that his team is fragile under pressure and that they are routinely prone to in-game meltdowns.

Townsend claimed “we’ve seen the best of the players throughout this campaign, up until the last 25 minutes” of the matches against New Zealand and Argentina.

When pressed on whether the inability to turn those encouraging performances into victories was a concern, he said: “Yes, of course it’s a concern. We feel going into those games we genuinely had opportunities to win.

“This time last year against South Africa (32-15 defeat), England (16-15 defeat), we scored three tries to one and had one of our best-ever performances against England. We didn’t win.

“The weekend, 21-0 up, we didn’t win. Of course, that’s really disappointing, but the level of our play and what it’s doing to the opposition gives me confidence that if we, and it’s not an if, but when we get parts of our game and our response to momentum changes better, then we’re going to get those wins.”

Asked if he felt the backlash since Sunday had been justified, Townsend said: “I don’t know. I would expect there’s been criticism, but if you get caught up in any of that, or read it, it’s going to distract you from what is important.

“And that is working with this playing group as a coaching group, to make sure that any pain we feel – the pain of the defeat – that it comes out with a good outcome.

“And the outcome is going to be in those big moments in Rome (in the Six Nations opener in February), or those big moments throughout the Six Nations.”