Gregor Townsend: Two Scotland wins would be a disappointing Six Nations, our expectations have risen

Head coach pays tribute to Italy but knows Rome loss paints Scots campaign in different light

Gregor Townsend has admitted that finishing this season’s Guinness Six Nations campaign with two wins would be considered a disappointment for Scotland.

Speaking after his team lost to Italy for the first time in nine years, the national coach acknowledged that expectations had risen over the course of his near seven-year reign. Scotland have never finished higher than third since the championship was expanded to six teams in 2000 and hopes had been high that they could win in Rome to set up a potential title decider against Ireland on the final day.

However, the Scots let slip a 22-10 lead as Italy fought back to win 31-29. Townsend’s side opened their 2024 campaign with a one-point win in Wales, then lost at home to France before beating England for the fourth year in a row.

Scott Cummings and Cameron Redpath of Scotland look dejected following the team's defeat by Italy.

“If we end up with two wins, of course we will be disappointed,” said the Scotland coach, who batted away a question about his future. “We were disappointed not to have won against France and we were disappointed on Saturday. They were obviously tight defeats, but that doesn’t change things. We set out to win those games and we were in a position to win against France. In the Italy game, we probably weren’t in a position to win in the second half, but we certainly were after our opening period.

“It’s gutting that we didn’t come away with those two wins. If we get ourselves into a position to win against Ireland, the team will have played really well. That’s what we have to focus on this week.”

Scotland have not beaten Ireland in Townsend’s reign and you have to go back to 2010 for the last time they won in Dublin. Nevertheless, Ireland’s shock loss to England at Twickenham showed they are not unbeatable and Scotland will head to the Aviva knowing they can win a first Triple Crown in 34 years.

“The expectation has gone up and our own expectations have gone up too,” said Townsend who has presided over two third-places finishes, three fourth and one fifth in six full Six Nations campaign. “To beat England was something that never happened, and now the expectation is to beat them regularly and for us to finish high up in the championship.

“Saturday means we won’t finish as high as we set out to do and that’s really disappointing, but the most important thing is putting those experiences to best use. I felt our experiences in the World Cup set us on a much better standard of playing in this Six Nations. You saw it in the first 45 minutes in Cardiff, and the growth mentally in this group has been really positive. Saturday was definitely a setback, that third quarter. But that’s sport - you have to learn from the times when you’ve not done that well and build on the things you’ve been doing well. That’s what we’ll be working on this week.”

Townsend paid tribute to Italy who now have the chance to have their best ever Six Nations campaign if they can beat Wales on the final weekend having already drawn with France. “A result like this has been coming for a while, and it wasn’t just Saturday - they beat Wales in Wales [in 2022], they drew with France, and they lost by three points to England. They’re a quality side. Even when we were scoring tries, when they had their opportunities they played well. They’re already a test for all of the Six Nations teams, and they’ll be even more of a test as a young team grows over the next few years.”

Italy Under-20s beat their Scottish counterparts 47-14 on Friday night.