'We know': Scotland players aware of Gregor Townsend's situation as captain tells media they have it easy

A dismal start to the Six Nations saw the Scots beaten by Italy in rain-lashed Rome and it came hard on the heels of a disappointing autumn campaign during which Townsend’s side blew a 21-0 lead at home to Argentina, losing 33-24.

Scotland have slipped from fifth to 10th in the world rankings since the 2023 Rugby World Cup and there have been calls for Townsend to be replaced. He signed a new deal with Scottish Rugby last September which ties him to the job until after next year’s World Cup in Australia and he dismissed any notion of stepping down as head coach at his post-match press conference in Rome last weekend. But he goes into Saturday’s Murrayfield showdown with England under the most pressure he has ever experienced in almost nine years in the job.

Tuipulotu said the players were aware of the flak Townsend is attracting and knows that only an upturn in results will change the narrative.

“Everyone's got a phone and we know about the things that are getting said about our coach. But we understand it as well,” said the Scotland captain.

"At the end of the day, Test rugby is about winning and fans and people get frustrated when you don't do that, especially with the squad. We're not delusional to the fact that we need to get results in order to avoid that type of stuff.”

The Glasgow Warriors centre said it was “easy” for the media to criticise and called for unity within the squad as they look to salvage their Six Nations campaign.

“It's easy to sit in that chair that you're sitting in right now,” Tuipulotu told the assembled press at Murrayfield. “That's the main thing that us players have to realise. It's easy to write those stories and because you're not you're not the man in the arena who has to go out there. It's easy to sit where you are. It's hard to sit where we're sitting at the moment.

“But we have to pull it together because it's our only option. And we understand the heat that our coach is under. I'm not going to get up here and say we should get rid of our coach or maybe give you guys the headlines, because that's not how I feel at all.

“And, you know, a lot of work goes on behind the scenes that you guys don't get to see. And I understand that you guys have to, I suppose, make a story about something.

“[What] I've always felt about media is that it's easy to sit where you guys sit. And it's hard to sit where I sit. And that's why I love playing rugby, because I like the idea of what I do is hard.”

Tuipulotu accepted some of the criticism of the team was warranted and acknowledged that results dictate the coverage.

“We've got to wear that responsibility as well,” he said. “And what comes with it. And, yeah, I'm fully on board with all the criticism that we've gotten, because in fact, we haven't got the results to deserve any better. And that's OK.”

While it is the head coach who inevitably carries the can when things go wrong, Tuipulotu believes the players need to show more than they did in last weekend’s 18-15 loss to Italy which was characterised by lineout failings, a poor scrum and Scotland's inability to adapt to the conditions.

“I understand that in sport, he's the head of the table and there's a lot of responsibility on him, but my message to the players is that he can only do so much. The coaches can only do so much.

“When we walk out of the changing room, we're the only ones that can influence the score or anything like that. It's got nothing to do with them left in the changing room and up in the box. And if you look at the things that went wrong for us last week, the set-piece didn't fire and things like that. That's got nothing to do with Gregor and it's got everything to do with us as players.”

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