Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has revealed he’s been in talks with his Murrayfield superiors over the last few months — but insists his own future hasn’t been on the agenda.
Townsend’s contract is due to expire after next year’s Six Nations, with Glasgow Warriors boss Franco Smith strongly fancied to succeed him.
Townsend, who will lead the squad to New Zealand and Fiji next month, sat down recently with Scottish Rugby’s performance director David Nucifora and chief executive Alex Williamson — but he insists whether he will continue in charge beyond 2026 wasn’t one of the talking points.
At a time when Nucifora has been implementing massive cuts across the academy system and women’s game as part of Scottish Rugby’s new ‘pathway system’, Townsend has said that he doesn’t expect there to be any movement on his own future until at least after the summer tour — and possibly even later in the year around the November Tests.
Townsend said: ‘I’ve had conversations with both David and Alex about the future but not necessarily my future.
‘Just about where the team is going and reviewing the Six Nations. But we’ve also been looking at areas that we might have to strengthen or bring more players through.
Townsend has been in charge of the Scotland national team since 2017
The 52-year-old has held talks with performance director Nucifora (right) but not over his own future
‘They’re normal those conversations — but nothing about my own situation.
‘My contract is up after the Six Nations. So, I’d imagine those conversations will start as we get closer to November or after the summer tour.’
Murrayfield bosses came under fire this week after age-grade teams were officially informed that their number of academy players would be cut in half.
That was followed by claims that the 38-player women’s training squad would be trimmed to just 15 contracted members after this summer’s Women’s Rugby World Cup.
Sources close to Scottish Rugby claim to have been left in the dark over the streamlined proposals, and some of those affected have accused Nucifora of showing ‘disrespect’ and a ‘lack of care’ while working in a largely remote capacity from his home in Australia.
Meanwhile, Townsend and his staff have spent the last few months picking over the bones of another disappointing Six Nations campaign where Scotland won just twice to finish fourth. But he doesn’t believe significant change is needed.
He added: ‘We’ve reflected a lot on our performance, we’ve had learnings.
‘Pete Horne was out in New Zealand for three weeks and I was out in Australia for a week.
Glasgow boss Franco Smith is expected to be in the frame for the Scotland post when Townsend does leave
‘So, it’s a good period to not just focus on your own game but how you can add from other experiences.
‘You split the Six Nations into the first two games and the last three games.
‘The most relevant game is the last one you played, which I thought was a really positive performance in Paris. And it gives me a lot of optimism of what our team can do when we go up against a big side.
‘There’s a lot to build on from that game and the England game but there are other areas where we have to improve.
‘We know we have to take our opportunities. But there’s nothing when we reflected where we thought, “We really need to change this”, or “This is a big part of the game that we’re struggling with”.
‘I think the forwards in particular showed what they can deliver this year. So that gives us a lot of encouragement for the future.’
