Gregor Townsend backed to take Scotland forward after signing contract extension

Performance director David Nucifora dismissed any notion that Gregor Townsend had run his course with Scotland after handing the long-serving head coach a contract extension and the chance to lead his country to a third Rugby World Cup.

There had been speculation about the future of the 52-year-old, with his previous deal due to expire after next year’s Six Nations and scrutiny on his position following back-to-back fourth-placed finishes in the championship, and successive pool-stage exits at the 2019 and 2023 World Cups.

Nucifora, who has been overseeing a restructure of Scottish Rugby over the past year, spoke of “the power and value of continuity” after rewarding Townsend with a new deal that would take him up to the end of the 2027 World Cup in Australia, which kicks off just over a decade after he took charge in the summer of 2017.

“Gregor is constantly seeking to improve,” Nucifora said at a press conference in Edinburgh. “He’s a curious coach, he wants to find ways to evolve both himself personally but also to evolve the team.

“I think once you lose that drive and curiosity and search to improve, that’s when you know that head coaches have probably run their time and Gregor’s definitely not in that space. He’s as keen or keener than he’s ever been.”

Nucifora believes Townsend and his players will benefit from a restructure within Scottish Rugby in which five high performance heads of department have been recruited over the summer, while “a myriad of other positions have been filled over the summer to support that”.

“I’m looking for Gregor to build on the good work that he’s done,” said Nucifora. “He’s in a position now where we’ve got a team that is maturing nicely, leading into a World Cup in 2027.

“He’s also going to be working in a programme now that’s fully supported.

“It’s not just Gregor trying to manage the national team, but he’s now got a high performance department around him that’s got a lot more support, a lot more bulk to be able to help what he’s trying to produce.”

Townsend – already Scotland’s longest-serving head coach of the professional era – was not present at the press conference but said in a press release that being in the role was “a massive honour” and “a true privilege” and that he remained “hugely motivated to help the team perform to its potential”.

While it was ultimately Nucifora’s call, Scottish Rugby chief executive Alex Williamson – appointed at the start of this year – described it as “an obvious decision” after observing at close quarters on the recent summer tour of the Pacific how the head coach operates.

“It makes a huge amount of sense to me that we keep very talented coaches who really understand the Scottish system,” said Williamson.

“Gregor retains an enormous enthusiasm and a huge sense of pride and those two things together are very powerful.

“But what makes him really interesting – and having spent a lot of time with him on tour in the summer – is that he’s unbelievably hungry for development as an individual and in his environment and I found that really impressive.

“Clearly David is the guide in this organisation around the approach that we take to our coaching set-up but since David and I have started working together, he’s been absolutely clear that Gregor is a first-class coach running an exceptional environment.

“And having spent the best part of a month in that environment myself – and I think I’d have a good sense of what looked functional or dysfunctional – I was very impressed and reassured by it, so it was an obvious decision for us to make.”