Crisis, what crisis? Townsend’s spin leaves Scots dazed and confused, but has head coach now ran out of goodwill as well as luck and ideas?

Gregor Townsend’s next job will likely be within the Newcastle Red Bulls organisation but it is hard to shake the feeling that he would make the perfect politician.

The walls are threatening to crash down all around him at Murrayfield but the Scotland head coach remains as unflustered as ever as he sticks doggedly to his key manifesto claim that better times are just around the corner.

Like any ‘jam tomorrow’ promise, however, that breakthrough moment never arrives, no matter how rigidly Townsend sticks to his guns that things are definitely still on track. Now into the ninth year of his tenure, an escalating mountain of evidence states overwhelmingly otherwise.

Townsend, though, simply won’t be swayed by damning statistics or facts. Not when he has his own to counter with, tailor-made to suit his argument, as he points out that bad teams don’t recover from going 17 points down against the All Blacks or go 21-0 up on the ever-dangerous Pumas.

Yes, maybe, but Scotland still lost both of those matches. Just as they have done in all of the significant contests played in 2025 against Ireland, France, England and Fiji. It is not difficult to plot a pattern.

Supporters want to believe any coach telling them that things are going to get better as it helps fuel their inherent optimism. But there is only so long that someone can piddle down their legs and tell them it’s raining before their patience starts to expire. And Townsend has finally run out of goodwill as well as ideas and luck.

Like any politician worth their salt, he remains unfailingly affable in his media dealings, unwilling to demonstrate even the slightest loss of control lest it be interpreted as a weakness. For every valid criticism, there is a counter point.

Psychologists talk about owning your shortcomings. Townsend won’t even acknowledge they exist in the first place.

He has become like a boxer getting off his stool for round after round in a contest that he has no chance of winning. In that circumstance, the proud pugilist is usually saved from himself by the referee stopping the bout or the towel being thrown in from the corner.

There is no sign of any external intervention, however, arriving to prevent Townsend from further punishment to his reputation.

David Nucifora, the performance director who will move on next summer, and chief executive Alex Williamson have backed Townsend repeatedly all year. Would they be moved now to cut short this arrangement just months after handing their head coach an extended contract? It seems unlikely. But it also appears to be the only way to break this stagnant cycle.

A defeat to Tonga would surely expedite any separating of the ways but, just like this time last year when Scotland defeated Australia, winning the final match of the year will allow everyone to slope off with a smile on their face, harbouring the misguided sensation that things maybe aren’t so bad after all.

Given Townsend’s reluctance to confront his and his squad’s failings — publicly at least — then it is perhaps a surprise that he has chosen in Sione Tuipulotu a captain who takes the entirely opposite approach.

Tuipulotu, of course, has the benefit of being a born and raised Australian, a nation that traditionally doesn’t couch its feelings, either good or bad, and has no shame in letting everyone know about it. The Glasgow centre is as impressive a figure off the field as he is on it, never sugarcoating any situation and wearing his exasperation all over his expressive face.

Smashing a Tongan side ranked lower than the USA team beaten 85-0 at the start of this autumn international series won’t move the needle any in terms of the wider picture but Tuipulotu knows that those who have bought tickets for this mismatch deserve to see a reaction after the disappointment of the previous two weekends.

‘I spoke to the boys just as we left the pitch after captain’s run to say that, in games like this, you’re playing yourself more than the opposition,’ he said. ‘This is not a day about proving something: it’s us getting back to what we were doing well in that Argentina game to get up 21 points and sticking to that.

‘I think that the boys did that really well against the USA. We’re expecting probably a little bit of a different challenge in Tonga, who haven’t played at all this autumn and are probably all fresh and raring to go.

‘More importantly, it’s about making sure that we go out there and show the public commitment, that we care about playing out there at Murrayfield and we appreciate them coming along. We’re expecting 60,000 people to come watch us, so we want to make it a good day for them.’

Some of the Scotland team will be fired up more than others, with George Turner earning his 50th cap, Zander Fagerson returning after almost eight months out and the likes of Fergus Burke, Jamie Ritchie and Andy Onyeama-Christie getting their first minutes of the series.

‘I’m really excited for those boys to play as well just because it’s not easy to get called up and maybe not get many minutes,’ added Tuipulotu. ‘And I’m really excited for them to freshen up the team a little bit with their energy.

‘I know how keen those boys are to just get minutes and play in front of the Murrayfield crowd. It’s Fergus’ first game at home so I know how pumped up he is.’

This is a special occasion for Tuipulotu, too, as he lines up against the country of his father. Having also made his debut against Tonga in 2021, the fixture gives him a chance to reflect on how far he has come.

‘It’s a massive game for me. It feels like in one game I get to represent who I am. As I said when I debuted against them and played them at the World Cup, it’s been a crazy last four years.

‘The last week has shown me what being a leader is. When it doesn’t go right, you’re the first in the line because ultimately you run the team out there. And I didn’t do a good enough job of that against Argentina. I’m not hiding away from that at all.’

If only everyone had the same attitude then perhaps Scotland might not be in such a mess.