Townsend: Win in France means a lot to Scotland

Gregor Townsend has hailed his Scotland side’s “incredible” achievement of ending decades of away defeats in the Six Nations.

In their last three matches on the road in the championship Scotland have ended 18 years without a win in Wales, 38 years without a win at Twickenham and, on Friday night, 22 years without a win in Paris.

The 27-23 win at the Stade de France was not enough to secure a highest ever final placing of second, but it did ensure that Scotland once again won more games than they lost in the tournament.

Townsend said: “It is incredible. I think to break one record is a massive achievement but to do three in our last three away games in the Six Nations shows what a team we have and what a group of players we have.

“We have been really competitive in the last two years in every game we have played in the Six Nations.

“We have won six and the four games we have lost have been very close.

“To keep that going in a bit of adversity prior to the match and then during the match shows that this team has spirit and togetherness.

“That win means a lot – for [the players], for Scottish rugby and hopefully it means a lot for the people of our nation, like the win at Twickenham did.”

Captain Stuart Hogg meanwhile spoke of his pride at leading the team but said they are determined to get better.

Hogg said: “I’m the captain of a very, very proud nation and we’ll continue to work hard.

“Results at times at times have been outstanding, the performance at times have been very good, but we’re probably going to be kicking ourselves with some of the losses.

“We’re not going to get carried away, we’re going to enjoy this moment and start building towards something memorable.”