Talk of the Toony: The Autobiography of Gregor Townsend
Gregor Townsend is one of rugby’s true greats. The most capped Scotland international of all time, a captain of his country and a winning British Lions tourist, Townsend’s time in the game has spanned continents, cultures and the amateur and professional eras. Always worth the admission money, his own story provides a unique perspective on rugby.The game of rugby has taken Gregor Townsend from the Scottish border town of Galashiels to the great playing fields of the world: Twickenham, Stade de France, Newlands, Stadium Australia and Eden Park. No current player can provide as comprehensive and objective a perspective on rugby culture as Townsend.‘Frustratingly mercurial,’ says one expert commentator of Scotland’s most celebrated fly-half. ‘He can empty bars with his brilliance,’ waxes another in contrast. But no-one can question his commitment as a pioneer of the cosmopolitan rugby life.From year-round seasons playing for both Gala and Australian side Warringah, he joined the Ian McGeechan revolution at Northampton – alongside England greats Matt Dawson, Paul Grayson and Tim Rodber – becoming a fan’s favourite. He has featured in some of the biggest matches in the sport – Grand Slam showdowns with England in 1995 and 1996, World Cup quarter-finals in 1999 and 2003 against New Zealand and Australia, British Lions Test victories, and European and French Cup Finals.Along the way, Townsend recounts his experiences of working alongside some of the greats of the world game – Gavin Hastings, Clive Woodward, Martin Johnson, Jonny Wilkinson, Jim Telfer, Ian McGeechan, and many more.He reveals how a team-mate tried to persuade the entire Scottish XV to sign up for rival Kerry Packer’s professional league. He details his shock at being omitted from the 2001 Lions squad, and the infamous 1994 Scotland tour to Argentina where he was blasted for his performances and almost gave up the sport. And he discloses for the first time the controversial circumstances behind his enforced international retirement.From his candid descriptions of the fierce political battles of selection to the events leading to professionalism that almost destroyed union, Gregor Townsend shows what it has meant to have experienced a lifetime playing, thinking and living rugby.
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First published in 2007 by HarperSport an imprint of HarperCollins London
© Gregor Townsend 2007
Gregor Townsend asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
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Source ISBN 9780007251131
Ebook Edition © MARCH 2015 ISBN: 9780008140663
Version: 2015-03-13
Dedicated to rugby in the Borders, and the hope that it can rise again.
Have you ever stopped and wondered why
Border rugby is so strong
I’ll tell you how it started, just listen to my song
How the Reivers wrought disorder
And the rule of law was lame
And the Bonnie Scottish Borders became
The Kingdom of the Game
Frae Gala, Hawick and Melrose
The Gospel quickly spread
The magic of its spell rose
Frae Selkirk don tae Jed
Frae Kelsae doon on Tweedside
Tae the muckle toon they came
And they fought tae find the best toon
In the Kingdom of the Game
Their features carved in granite
Their hearts as stout as stone
They won the ball and ran it
They made the game their own
Now many Border Callants
Bring honour and great fame
Tae the heartbeat of the Nation
Tae the Kingdom of the Game
‘The Kingdom of the game’ (Henry Douglas)
Contents
3. Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina
6. Last Orders and First Steps
13. Spirits Lifted: Rugby World Cup 2003 Diary Part 1
Happiness isn’t something you experience; it’s something you remember.
Oscar Levant
15 September 2006
I suppose we are never angrier than when we feel ourselves to be at fault. In only the third game of this season – my final season – I played as badly as I’ve ever done in my career. I was playing for the Border Reivers down in Wales, and we succumbed to another defeat – this time against the Ospreys. However, my own disappointment was much greater than that of my team-mates. This wasn’t entirely to do with my error-strewn performance. The match also forced me to admit an undeniable truth – my rugby career was all but over.
Throughout my career, I would set myself goals of getting into club, Scotland or Lions teams, but my real focus was on trying to improve every time I got my hands on a rugby ball, trying to play the perfect game. A few months previously I had announced publicly – and set as a goal – that I was going to retire at the end of the season. It wasn’t the most positive of targets and for the first time in my career, I began to feel demotivated. Now, showing signs of being unable to reach the standards I had set for myself, I feared that I’d lose the respect of others, never mind my own self-respect.
Professional sportsmen never know when the best time is to retire. The preferred option is to ‘go out at the top’, when you are still at the height of your powers. I couldn’t see the logic in that – surely you would want to achieve as much as was possible? Another option is to wait until injuries force you out of the game. My body had been crying ‘enough’ for some time – a broken ankle, torn shoulder ligaments and a cortisone injection in my neck were some of the things I’d faced in the previous two years – but I couldn’t resist working myself back to some sort of match fitness and playing once more. In the weeks following the Ospreys game, I realized just when the right time to take your leave was – when you start to feel that rugby has become a job. When the exciting becomes mundane and challenges mere chores, then it is time to call it a day.
My last two years back in Scotland have had precious few highlights, as the overriding memories are of recovering from a stream of injuries and of striving to just make it through the day, whether it was a weights session, rugby training, video analysis or rehab work. At times I was getting by on the bare minimum, and I knew it. It’s not a sentiment I want to associate with the sport I love, especially as I’ve felt blessed at the opportunities that rugby has given me.
