{"id":1053,"date":"2019-10-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/reports\/why-player-leadership-groups-are-still-the-way-forward-for-scotland\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T05:12:28","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T05:12:28","slug":"gregor-townsend-2","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Player Leadership Groups Are Still the Way Forward for Scotland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n\t
\n\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t
\n \n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n Oct 11, 2019 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Why Player Leadership Groups Are Still the Way Forward for Scotland<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
Category<\/div>\n Coaching & Development<\/a> <\/div>\n
\n
Share<\/div>\n Facebook<\/a>\n Twitter<\/a>\n Email<\/a>\n Copy Link<\/a>\n
https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Head Coach Gregor Townsend explains how he draws on the indispensable influence of his players.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

\n

Scotland arrived at the Rugby World Cup in Japan having played some of their best and most exhilarating rugby in a generation<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n
\n
By John Portch<\/h6>\n

Gregor Townsend, the\u00a0<\/span>He<\/span>ad Coach,<\/span>\u00a0has been credited with instilling the high-tempo, counterattacking style\u00a0<\/span>that enables Scotland, with its modest resources, to compete with the best sides in the world.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is a style he has sought to impose since he first took the reins\u00a0<\/span>in the summer of 2017<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThere is no turning back [in terms of approach],\u201d Townsend<\/span>\u00a0told the\u00a0<\/span>Daily Telegraph<\/span><\/i>\u00a0last year. He has been true to his word<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the best way for us to try to win<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0It may not be so for every team. We play to what we believe are our strengths, many of which are traditional elements of the Scottish game \u2013 speed, dynamism, producing quick ball. And work-rate. Nothing can happen unless the work-rate is high.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Townsend<\/span>, one of the most innovative\u00a0<\/span>and widely-travelled\u00a0<\/span>coaches in the game,\u00a0<\/span>has set the tone but, as he told an audience at the 2017 Leaders Sport Performance Summit in New York, he is simply a guide for the players under his stewardship.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>\u2018Guide\u2019 is a very good word<\/span>,\u201d he says. \u201cP<\/span>layer-led is the goal we wanted to get to because ultimately for the 80 minutes on the field it\u2019s the players who make the decisions but there has to be coach guidance. If someone steps out of line or if there\u2019s something unacceptable then the coach must be in there to make sure that gets dealt with it, the clarity of message that this doesn\u2019t happen in our culture, our organisation.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Townsend then emphasises that there are numerous ways of making a team culture as player-led as possible. \u201cIt\u2019s how you review games,\u201d he continues, \u201chow<\/span>\u00a0you\u2019re open with the playing group as a whole, but also how your\u00a0<\/span>l<\/span>eaders act and you interact with them<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cW<\/span>e would\u00a0<\/span>also\u00a0<\/span>have leadership meetings twice a week and at the beginning of the week most of discussion would be based on culture aspects of things that we\u2019d noticed, things that they were feeding back to us;\u00a0<\/span>\u2018<\/span>this guy\u2019s been out of line, do you want me to deal with it or do you deal with it as a leadership group<\/span>?\u2019<\/span>\u00a0and more often or not\u00a0<\/span>they\u2019ll say \u2018<\/span>we\u2019ll deal with it first and if we still have a problem we\u2019ll come back to you.<\/span>\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Then the second meeting would be more about the game, more of a rugby, tactical focus. I think as we led into our games we wanted the players taking over, so the key leaders speaking in the meetings, leaving the players the day before the game to run their own session because the following day we were going to be in the stands and not contributing very much.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It may sound straightforward but, in international rugby, Townsend and his staff may have just 12 weeks in a year with the playing group. In a World Cup year such as this, the number increases but the emphasis on the players themselves remains because while the World Cup began XX the squad has been together since mid-summer<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To help combat cabin fever or internal rifts,\u00a0<\/span>Townsend has employed the tried and trusted\u00a0<\/span>rugby method<\/span>\u00a0of assembling a group of senior leaders within his playing group, who will take their coach\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>hopes and expectations back to their teammates.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I met with a big leadership group last<\/span>\u00a0week<\/span>,\u201d he says, referencing a training camp that had taken place the week before his appearance at the NBPA on 6th Avenue \u2013 an account that can be read in full here.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I met with two players who had been captain for the team in the last season. It will be important for me to meet with players before we come into camp, our key leaders, what we want the camp to look like, certain things that we want them to draw and how they can drive and grow as leaders in that camp.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Team culture, as Townsend explains, supersedes athlete development at international level, where players can be assumed to have reached a certain level of aptitude.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He says: \u201c<\/span>The good thing about international level is that we\u2019re dealing with people who have played the game at the highest level; they\u2019ll have led and either have been captains of their club or been leaders within the national team already. We\u2019re not developing skill and technique as much as we would at club level<\/span>\u00a0\u2013<\/span>\u00a0we\u2019re dealing with a higher level of leader already.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the World Cup pool phase progresses, expect Scotland\u2019s players to the leading the charge, with their Head Coach confident that his players are empowered enough to perform at an optimal level.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n

\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Head Coach Gregor Townsend explains how he draws on the indispensable influence of his players.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1054,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[22],"pathway":[],"topic":[],"sport":[],"class_list":["post-1053","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coaching-development-performance"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Player Leadership Groups Are Still the Way Forward for Scotland - Performance Institute<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Player Leadership Groups Are Still the Way Forward for Scotland - Performance Institute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Head Coach Gregor Townsend explains how he draws on the indispensable influence of his players.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Performance Institute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-15T05:12:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1172482866.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2040\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1093\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/\",\"name\":\"Why Player Leadership Groups Are Still the Way Forward for Scotland - Performance Institute\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1172482866.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-11T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-15T05:12:28+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1172482866.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1172482866.jpg\",\"width\":2040,\"height\":1093},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Player Leadership Groups Are Still the Way Forward for Scotland\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/\",\"name\":\"Performance Institute\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Player Leadership Groups Are Still the Way Forward for Scotland - Performance Institute","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Player Leadership Groups Are Still the Way Forward for Scotland - Performance Institute","og_description":"Head Coach Gregor Townsend explains how he draws on the indispensable influence of his players.","og_url":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/","og_site_name":"Performance Institute","article_modified_time":"2025-12-15T05:12:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2040,"height":1093,"url":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1172482866.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/","url":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/","name":"Why Player Leadership Groups Are Still the Way Forward for Scotland - Performance Institute","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1172482866.jpg","datePublished":"2019-10-11T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-15T05:12:28+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1172482866.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1172482866.jpg","width":2040,"height":1093},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/gregor-townsend-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Player Leadership Groups Are Still the Way Forward for Scotland"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/#website","url":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/","name":"Performance Institute","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/1053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/1053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32347,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/1053\/revisions\/32347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1053"},{"taxonomy":"pathway","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pathway?post=1053"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=1053"},{"taxonomy":"sport","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sport?post=1053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}