A triumphant Gregor Townsend suggested that criticism of his coaching and side had gone too far after Scotland claimed the Calcutta Cup with a superb win over England.
Townsend had come into the Six Nations clash under huge pressure after an opening-round defeat to Italy, which followed a disappointing autumn that included squandering a 24-point lead against Argentina.
The Scotland head coach had also faced questions over a consultancy role with Red Bull and links with a full-time job at Newcastle in the Gallagher Prem, but his side produced an outstanding performance at Murrayfield to emerge as 31-20 victors.
It continued their recent success in this fixture in Edinburgh, with England losing on four of their five visits during Townsend’s tenure.
“It’s the game that’s most important,” Townsend said of shutting out the outside noise. “We feel it from our supporters, from when we arrived at the ground to that first 20 minutes, which was outstanding, probably the first 35-38 minutes, to the effort that it takes to win a game against the top side, that’s what counts.
“We approached this fixture with a plan, with a goal to give our best and it was always looking forward and I’m so proud of the team today that we delivered that.
“The negativity from people in this room [journalists] around what happened against Argentina, experiences like that make you stronger. Experiences can, if you make the best use of them, which is what we’ve seen from our players since Argentina, being resilient, being together during those moments.
“These are the emotions that make you realise that coaching and still being involved in the game is hugely rewarding. It gives you massive purpose in your life and why you do it. It’s the players that drive our performance. The players drove it during the week and they drove it today in the game.”
Scotland next travel to take on Wales in round three, with Townsend concerned over the fitness of Jack Dempsey and Jamie Ritchie with a bicep issue and hyperextended knee respectively. Jamie Dobie also came off, though the head coach offered a more hopeful assessment of the wing’s fitness.
He also praised fly half Finn Russell, who was back to his trademark best.
“He was very composed,” Townsend said. “I thought the decision-making of the half-backs was outstanding. We asked them to be brave this week. I won’t explain what that means in our game plan, but it means there are some big decisions within our game plan. It’s on our half-backs at times and obviously a lot of that is on Finn. He’s very accurate.
“I love seeing him running. He’s one of the best ball-carrying 10s in the world, so that was great to see. He was very composed during times where we were on the back foot and we just had to take a breather.
“Finn really came into this championship with goals of what he wants to get out of his game and linking that with what the team needs. That’s been great to see.”
