John Rutherford: This special Scotland team has a great opportunity (2024)

Grand Slam hero John Rutherford has expressed his excitement about a “special” Scotland team and the “great opportunity” they have given themselves by beating England in their opening Six Nations fixture.

The former fly half was a key part of the last Scotland side to record back-to-back Calcutta Cup victories, in 1983 and 1984. That latter year, they completed the nation’s second championship clean sweep. Rutherford was also Jim Telfer’s backs coach in 1999, the last time Scotland won the tournament. Still an avid follower of the team, the 42-cap Borderer, 66, is full of enthusiasm for both the character and the style of Gregor Townsend’s charges, and says he would love nothing more than for them to keep making their own history.

“Just like last year, when the boys won at Twickenham [for the first time in 38 years], it’s great to get rid of these so-called records,” Rutherford told The Times. “Winning back-to-back Calcutta Cups is a significant achievement, but we have to back it up and beat Wales in Wales.

“Gregor deserves enormous praise for developing a squad where we are two or three deep in certain positions. That’s never happened in the history of Scottish rugby.

“It’s a great place to be, fantastic for the fans. So many times, when I was playing and since then, we have let them down, so it’s fantastic to give the fans some hope. Our record against Wales isn’t brilliant, so they need to go down there and perform like they did this week. But they’ve given themselves a great opportunity, for sure.

“It’s very much one step at a time and there are too many games to go for us to be getting ahead of ourselves, but Gregor is a canny bloke and I know he will be keeping the players’ feet on the ground. That said, your eyes tell you this is a special Scotland team and I’m really excited about what they can do.”

Watching from home on Saturday, Rutherford was impressed by the determination Scotland showed in the face of significant English pressure. He reserved particular praise for Darcy Graham, who once again defied physically more imposing opponents to excel on both sides of the ball, just as he had in his only previous outing against England, the dramatic 2019 draw at Twickenham.

“England were good, so we’ve beaten a good England team who were on top of us for quite a lot of the game,” said Rutherford. “I think we have really learned how to hang on in there. In days gone by, I don’t think Scotland teams could have coped with that kind of pressure. Steve Tandy [the defence coach], what an addition he has been.

“I thought Darcy Graham was incredible. He was my man of the match. I thought that every time he got the ball he looked as if he could do something and his [turnover] steal at the end was incredible. Let’s not forget, the guy is tiny!

“His break for the first try was sensational. There were still a couple of defenders back there, he had to beat one and then offload for Ben White to score. Darcy showed just how much he has to his game and he’ll take real confidence from that performance.”

Rutherford keeps a close eye on Finn Russell, having worked with the Scotland pivot early in his career when the younger man was still working on — and working out — ways to influence games that did not rely on pulling rabbits from hats.

Russell’s kicking game has come on immeasurably during his time in France with Racing 92, and Rutherford was purring in appreciation when those two pinpoint cross-kicks proved so decisive in Saturday’s second half. By the same token, he could not believe Eddie Jones’ decision to remove Marcus Smith after 63 minutes.

“It was going to take something special to open up England and the two cross-kicks at the end were bang on,” Rutherford said. “It needed something like that to give us the momentum going into that last 10 minutes. Finn is playing the rugby of his life.

“It’s a big ask to see and execute something like that, but not for Finn. He’s got a brilliant skill set and he’s right at the top of his game. He’s nearly 30, he’s an experienced international and one of the best fly halves in the world. I really enjoyed his battle against Smith — I really don’t know why England took him off. I heard Eddie Jones after the game saying it’s a 23-man game, but there’s no way Gregor was going to take off Finn Russell.

“It was a crazy thing to do, as was not bringing a hooker on for the lineout they lost [where prop Joe Marler had to take the throw]. But I was so pleased for Scotland after how they dug it out, and I’m excited to see what happens next.”

The one serious blow for Scotland was the injury to Jamie Ritchie which forced the influential flanker from the field after 59 minutes.

Ritchie had been in superlative form in the match up until that point, and his absence would also upset the continuity of the Scotland back row where he, Hamish Watson and Matt fa*gerson have been the go-to unit since the start of last year’s Six Nations.

After the match, Townsend was downbeat about Ritchie’s prospects.

“It’s not looking great for Jamie just now,” the Scotland coach admitted. “When you’re on crutches and struggling to walk, it’s not great. It seemed to be the hamstring and groin area. From what I could tell, the motion he made attempting to compete for the ball, he sort of did the splits. He’s in a bit of pain. So I wouldn’t expect him to be available next week. But from what I hear, everyone else seems to be OK.”

Magnus Bradbury is Ritchie’s likely replacement.

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