Scotland have an issue at 10. Finn Russell’s form in the Six Nations was far beneath his best. His part in the ‘Boozegate’ episode towards the end of the Championship saw him dropped for the final match against Ireland and provoked another round of questions about the state of his relationship with Townsend, with whom he had a very public falling-out in 2020.
Adam Hastings was cast aside for reasons that are hard to fathom, brought back in and then ruled out through injury.
Ross Thompson is quite clearly too green to run a Test match, which leaves Blair Kinghorn.
The Edinburgh man is so talented that he unquestionably belongs on the international stage. The doubts are whether he is capable of being the main playmaker and brings the required level of game-management to the Test arena.
Despite a very encouraging season for his club, Kinghorn’s displays in Test matches in Dublin and Jujuy – though there were some flashes of his best in the latter – mean those questions still hang over him.
“We’re massive believers in Blair in terms of what he can do individually and also how he can lead our team,” Townsend said.
“Blair has been very consistent for Edinburgh this year. While he would have wanted to play better last week, it’s all part of the learning and growing experience and process that we have as players, especially the players who have to make a lot of decisions.”
