Now or never for Townsend’s Scotland with head coach in Six Nations spotlight
If not now, then when? The stakes are never low in the Six Nations but for Scotland and Gregor Townsend the 2026 championship feels more loaded with significance than most.Under the tutelage of the 52-year-old head coach, the many disappointments of recent campaigns have been met with an assurance that there is potential for success in this squad.Between now and mid-March would be a handy time to prove it.Scotland have lost 11 consecutive matches against Ireland, for instance, and have finished fourth in five of eight tournaments under Townsend.They were unfortunate to be drawn with South Africa and Ireland at the last Rugby World Cup, but luck should not come into it now, especially considering the time he has had to build as he approaches a decade in the post.
The squad is largely injury-free, table-topping Glasgow are lighting up the United Rugby Championship and the Champions Cup, and the 28-year-old centre Sione Tuipulotu is visibly growing into the captain’s role.Townsend insists the calamitous Murrayfield defeat by Argentina in November, when they led 21-0 but finally lost 33-24, was a “line in the sand moment”.As a former England coach with a talent for one-liners would have put it, Scotland appear to have a few grenades in the back of the Jeep.If they happen to go off against Italy in Rome on Saturday, it would instantly generate a familiarly downbeat feeling among fans.From a personal perspective the stakes were raised further for Townsend when he was forced to address a report he has agreed to take over at Newcastle after next year’s Rugby World Cup, denying he had signed any contract.
He accepted a part-time consultancy role with the Prem club last year, and insisted after the capitulation against Argentina that it would improve him as a coach rather than distract from the task at hand,With Ireland on a downward trajectory and Wales at a low ebb, this looks an invaluable chance at least to compete for the title,France and England will have something to say about that, although both must visit Murrayfield in the coming weeks,But first things first,Townsend has selected nine Glasgow players in his starting XV at the Stadio Olimpico – in December the Warriors staged their own spectacular comeback, recovering from 21-0 down against Toulouse to triumph 28-21.
Blair Kinghorn, Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham, stalwarts of the side, have been dropped.Tom Jordan, of Bristol, is at full-back, with Jamie Dobie and Kyle Steyn preferred on the wings.Cumulatively, Townsend’s side have 671 Test caps, 96 more than the Azzurri, but how best to balance the value of experience against the toll that time inevitably takes on older players? At 35, the Edinburgh second-row, Grant Gilchrist, is arguably not the kind of dynamic operator capable of firing the Scottish engine room to glory.Speaking to media this week, however, Townsend was having none of it.“Grant is underrated by a lot of people,” he said.
“His performances are outstanding,He goes up against the All Blacks [in November], puts on a wonderful performance and people say: ‘Why are we not picking a younger guy?’ Grant is delivering,“We shouldn’t be saying: ‘Oh, he’s 35, let’s move on,’ No, World Cup-winning teams, if you look at the South Africans and teams that have done well, a lot of those guys are 34, 35 and appreciated for what they do,”Italy, meanwhile, are ravaged by injuries: Ange Capuozzo, Tommaso Allan, Ross Vintcent, Gianmarco Lucchesi and Sebastian Negri are all out, not to mention the scrum-halves Martin Page-Relo and Stephen Varney.
On the other hand, Michele Lamaro, Juan Ignacio Brex and Paolo Garbisi are poised for their 50th caps.Injury crisis or not, the impressive head coach, Gonzalo Quesada, has Italy looking up: but for Townsend and his talented team defeat in Rome is not an option.Meanwhile, Andy Farrell is confident Ireland can keep pace with Test rugby’s leading sides as he prepares to conduct a frank postmortem into a resounding 36-14 opening-night loss to reigning champions France.Farrell’s side were outclassed during Thursday evening’s one-sided tournament opener in Paris on the back of comprehensive autumn defeats by New Zealand and world champions South Africa.Ireland, who are hindered by a substantial injury list amid a period of transition, also suffered an emphatic 42-27 loss to Les Bleus last year in Dublin en route to surrendering the championship title.
Asked if he is optimistic Ireland can close what appears to be a growing gap to the top teams, head coach Farrell replied: “I am because I know the people that we’ve got, the good people that we’ve got, the good players that are here but who are at home as well.I know there is a determined group to make sure that we are constantly up there at the top of world rugby to be able to compete, and that will always be the case.”Farrell accused his players of lacking intent during a dismal first-half display at Stade de France which culminated in a 22-0 deficit following tries from Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Matthieu Jalibert and Charles Ollivon.Bielle-Biarrey’s second of the evening increased the hosts’ advantage before Theo Attissogbe added further punishment late on after consolation efforts from Ireland replacements Nick Timoney and Michael Milne.“We have to [regroup] otherwise the disappointment stands for absolutely zero,” said Farrell, whose side host Italy next Saturday.
“We have to be honest with each other and say it as it is and roll up to work next week and make sure that this stands for something,We need to use it to make sure we give a better showing of ourselves throughout the rest of the competition, starting with Italy next week,You cannot play the game at this level without having the right intention,It’s an absolute must and it’s the first thing that has to be down on the list to make sure that it’s delivered every single time we take the field,”Ireland at one stage looked in danger of suffering a record defeat by France and potentially being nilled in the process before ultimately drawing the second half 14-14.
Their captain, Caelan Doris, said: “The bench made a good impact.There was some good resolve in the second half but we don’t want to be a team that’s chasing.“We left ourselves too big a mountain to climb, and that’s down to some passiveness in D [defence], not being connected, not being dominant in collisions, allowing them to flourish with keeping the ball alive in attack.It was Faz [Farrell] who mainly spoke [at full-time], about coming back into work with an opinion.It doesn’t start at zero.
There are some good lessons to learn in that, there was a lot of good stuff in the prep,We’re going to have a deep dive into how we can make that better,”
Mandelson lobbying firm sought work with Russia and China state companies, Epstein emails show
Peter Mandelson’s former lobbying firm sought work with companies controlled by the governments of Russia and China shortly after he left ministerial office, according to emails the disgraced former minister forwarded to the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.The emails show how Mandelson and Benjamin Wegg-Prosser scrambled to drum up high-paying foreign business after co-founding Global Counsel even as Mandelson remained a member of the House of Lords. Potential clients included the Russian state investment firm Rusnano and the state-owned China International Capital Corporation, the emails suggest.The emails also showed that Wegg-Prosser met Epstein at his New York townhouse in 2010 to discuss the business. A person with knowledge of the situation said the meeting was at Mandelson’s request and only lasted 25 minutes
Gordon Brown ‘deeply regrets’ bringing Peter Mandelson into his government
Gordon Brown has said he deeply regrets bringing Peter Mandelson into his government, and that revelations about Jeffrey Epstein’s influence on UK politics had caused him revulsion.Writing in the Guardian, Brown said the news that Mandelson was passing information to Epstein while he was business secretary was “a betrayal of everything we stand for as a country”.Brown said he was at fault for making Mandelson a peer and bringing him back into government in 2008, after Mandelson had quit as an MP to become EU trade commissioner.“I have to take personal responsibility for appointing Mandelson to his ministerial role in 2008. I greatly regret this appointment,” he wrote, saying that at the time he was told that Mandelson’s record in Brussels had been “unblemished” and he did not know about any Epstein links
Police search two homes connected to Peter Mandelson over Epstein scandal
Police are searching two properties connected to Peter Mandelson as part of an investigation into claims that he passed market-sensitive information to Jeffrey Epstein.A Metropolitan police statement, which did not name Mandelson, said searches were taking place in Camden, north London, and Wiltshire. Mandelson has been living in a rented property in Wiltshire since being sacked as ambassador to the US over his links to the late convicted child sex offender.The deputy assistant commissioner Hayley Sewart said: “Officers from the Met’s central specialist crime team are in the process of carrying out search warrants at two addresses, one in the Wiltshire area, and another in the Camden area.“The searches are related to an ongoing investigation into misconduct in public office offences, involving a 72-year-old man
Court battle over Picasso art exposes offshore finances of Farage’s billionaire Davos sponsor
A high court battle over a Picasso painting has shone a light on the offshore financial structures of an Iranian-born businessman who paid for Nigel Farage’s £50,000 trip to Davos.The details about Sasan Ghandehari, who funded Farage’s tickets to the summit, emerged in court papers about a £4m claim brought by a British Virgin Islands firm, which has accused Christie’s auction house of misrepresentation when it sold the art to it.Ghandehari, a British citizen who is reported to have a $10bn (£7.3bn) family trust, is described in the original claim as a representative who arranged the deal for the firm, Brewer Management Corporation. A recent judgment shows that his wife, Yassmin Ghandehari, is “apparently the ultimate beneficial owner” of this BVI company
Police search properties related to Peter Mandelson investigation - as it happened
Police have carried out search warrants in relation to their investigation into misconduct in public office, they said on Friday, following reports about the conduct of former UK ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson.The police said they were carrying out search warrants at two addresses, one in the Wiltshire area and another in the Camden, north London.The police added that they had not arrested the man involved in the investigation, who they said was a 72-year-old.That’s all from me, Tom Ambrose, and the UK politics blog for today. Thanks for following along
‘Pestering for a role’: how Mandelson talked his way back into the Labour fold
A general election was on the horizon and Peter Mandelson was everywhere. “He didn’t have a desk but he would dip in and out on big issues; he was always there for advice,” recalled a former Labour official of the party’s run-up to the campaign in 2024.“He would be in and out of the Loto [leader of the opposition] office in Westminster, picking people off individually, ‘We need to chat and do this’, sort of thing.”The Labour peer’s presence was welcomed by some, who found it reassuring to have a member of the election-winning New Labour team around, but others were notably seeking to keep a distance.“Sue didn’t want him near anything,” said the source of Sue Gray, who was then Keir Starmer’s chief of staff and for six years before that was head of the Cabinet Office’s ethics and propriety team
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