Gregor Townsend signs new contract: length of deal, World Cup implications, Franco Smith latest

The deal will be announced officially on Wednesday along with a raft of other high performance appointments which are expected to include an extended contract for Franco Smith, the Glasgow Warriors head coach. Smith had been touted as a possible successor to Townsend after leading Glasgow to the United Rugby Championship title last year.

Townsend, 52, is already the longest serving Scotland coach of the professional era and this latest contract will extend his time in charge to beyond a decade.

The Scotsman understands the deal will run until the end of the next Rugby World Cup which will be held in Australia from October 1 to November 13 2027. Smith’s contract is believed to be for another two years.

Desperate for another stab at World Cup

Having failed to qualify from the pool stage in 2019 in Japan and 2023 in France, Townsend is desperate to take the national side to the knockout stages of the tournament.

The draw for the World Cup will be made in December this year and Townsend has already stressed how important it is that Scotland are ranked as high as possible to ensure they receive a favourable draw. The opposite happened last time around when the Scots were paired with South Africa and Ireland in the group stage and lost to both, finishing third in Pool B two years ago.

The 2027 tournament will be expanded from 20 to 24 teams and the new format will see the competing nations drawn into six groups of four. The top two from each pool along with the four best third-placed sides will qualify for the round of 16.

Scotland are currently ranked eight in the world. If they remain there they will be in the second band of seeds for the World Cup draw. They would need to be in the top six at the conclusion of the autumn Tests to be in the top band of seeds. Scotland will play the United States, New Zealand, Argentina and Tonga at Murrayfield in November.

Townsend was linked last week with the director of rugby role at Newcastle Red Bulls but Scottish Rugby chief executive Alex Williamson made it clear in June that he wanted the coach to stay beyond the terms of his current contract which expires in April next year.

Williamson said he favoured “continuity” and intimated that he also wanted Smith and Sean Everitt to remain in charge of Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh, respectively.

Deal will divide opinion

The new contact for Townsend is likely to divide opinion. Scotland have played some brilliant rugby under his watch but their failure at two World Cups is a blight on his record. Scotland have also struggled to mount a sustained challenge for the Six Nations title and their highest finish in the championship under the coach has been third place which has been achieved twice in eight years.

On the plus side, they have dominated the Calcutta Cup under Townsend, beating England four times in a row between 2021 and 2024, and also winning in 2018 and fighting back from 31-0 down to draw 38-38 and retain the trophy the following year at Twickenham. There have also been notable successes against France, Australia and Argentina.

Of the 94 Test matches he has been in charge of, Scotland have won 53, lost 40 and drawn one and he has the best win ratio of any Scotland coach in the pro age.

Speaking after Scotland’s final match of the 2025 Six Nations, against France in Paris, Townsend outlined what the job meant to him.

“I still feel a massive privilege being in this role,” he said. “It gives me a big purpose in my life.”

His most recent games in charge came in the summer when he led Scotland on a Pacific tour with mixed results. They beat the Māori All Blacks 29-26 in a non-cap match in New Zealand before losing 29-14 to Fiji in Suva. They rounded off the tour with a 41-12 win over Samoa in Auckland.