You should feel enthusiastic about this book, because if there is one trait that has typified Gregor Townsend throughout his career, from Scotland to England via Australia, and France to South Africa, passing thorough Argentina, New Zealand, Fiji and Samoa, it is enthusiasm.

And that is what makes this book not just enjoyable, but inspiring.  Townsend has always been just a normal, jaunty lad from Gala with passion and drive and, having written this book himself, these traits come across endearingly and in spades.  You will rarely finish a page when you won’t think ‘yes, that’s true’ or ‘good point’.  The mind of one of Scotland’s greatest ever sportsmen is startlingly similar to yours and mine.  His career, however, has been somewhat more diverse.

Yet from playing against imaginary opponents in his garden, to the great rugby showdowns of the world - including Five Nations Championship deciders, World Cup quarter-finals and British Lions’ tests - all he wanted to do was play, and win - motivation at its simplest. Townsend never considered the mercenary approach to sport that is attributed to many professional athletes nowadays, driven by money and stardom.  If Gregor’s name was called out to play, be it for Gala Red Triangle, the Natal Sharks or Scotland, he was happy. 

At fifteen he was playing three rugby matches each weekend.  By thirty-three he was playing considerably less, but his approach (unlike his knees) retained the same vigour.  He just wanted to go out there, play his best, do his team proud and enjoy his rugby.
 
Is there an unwritten message in his childhood?  What should we take from a rugby schooling such as his?  Gregor Townsend is undoubtedly one of the most technically gifted players to have flung the ball across the Murrayfield turf, or indeed any other.  So why was he so good?  Was it all natural flair, or was it simply the solid grounding he took from playing with a rugby ball for endless hours as a youngster, developing his skills?

John Collins, a fellow Gala sporting legend, and a contemporary of Townsend, (they both captained their countries for the first time in the same week) would certainly agree.  Praising the merits of a French style football academy system, where young players camp down from the age of 13, Collins told In The Winning Zone earlier this year: “Scottish players only come in here [to the club academies] at sixteen, so already the French have three years head start.  That’s two or three years of touching a ball every day – that’s millions and millions of touches.  So by the time they hit sixteen they are already better technically.”

The countless extra touches Gregor had by enjoying all this game-time proves, perhaps, that the same lessons could be learned in rugby.  Every extra second he had on the ball helped mould him into one of the most complete players in the game.

So, as expected, his career began carving itself out at an early age, with Gregor making his debut for Scotland at under-15 level against Wales in 1988.  He recalled the moment with fervour and honesty:  “I know it might sound clichéd, but the first time I wore a Scottish jersey was a hugely uplifting experience: something about the blue jersey made me swell up with pride.  My performance in the game itself wasn’t anything special, and we lost 23-6 in front of a large Borders crowd.  I hadn’t exactly frozen on this elevated stage, but I hadn’t done anything that suggested I’d attain any higher honours in the game.”

Comments like this pepper the book.  He may have been an internationalist, but he never forgot his humility.  He never once brags or lectures.  He is just as likely to spend a page talking about a scuffed kick as he is about a wonder-try.  Why?  Because Gregor learned early in his career that everyone makes mistakes, but true winners learn from them.

“I used to live by a quote I’d read somewhere: ‘If you’ve never made a mistake, you’ve never made a decision.’  Now I was getting much better at recognizing the two benefits of failure: first, if you fail, you learn what doesn’t work; and second, the failure gives you an opportunity to try a new approach.”

Throughout his memoirs, Townsend gently reminds the reader of the core values, such as this, that he believes should underpin any sport and its sportsmen, and in the process he gets a much more profound message across than any amount of sermonising could muster. 

“Like everyone else in Scotland, on 17 March 1990 I was celebrating the fact that we had beaten England to win the Grand Slam.  Everything about that day at Murrayfield was a credit to the values of Scottish rugby at the time: humility, passion, graft and togetherness.”

He continues over the page: “I grew up in the golden age of Borders rugby.  We had some great ambassadors for the area – people like Gary Armstrong, Roy Laidlaw, John Jeffrey and John Rutherford – all of whom successfully blended courage, modesty and skill.”

Now, the question the reader can ponder here is: Is Gregor simply reminiscing?  Or is this a sly wink and a not-so-gentle nudge to the Scottish rugby (and Scottish Rugby) of today?

Well, to answer the question, you need only continue reading, and in particular, focus on the final chapter, State of the Union, where Gregor reflects on his own career and discusses, you guessed it, the state of the (Scottish Rugby) Union.  Townsend does not place himself on a pedestal, but he knows his rugby, and his opinion should carry some sway.  He displayed those very same values as a player, and they go a long way in sport.

“Let’s start with some long term planning... To have any hope of achieving any lasting change, there needs to be a fundamental shift in the culture of Scottish rugby.  We have to become much more inclusive and positive, engender a spirit of consensus rather than fear.  I am sick and tired of people pointing out what can’t be done instead of what can be achieved.”

But that is just the beginning and the end of the book.  There are plenty of tasty tit-bits in between.  And while many of the anecdotes, comments and quotes transcend not just rugby and even sport into the wider context of life lessons, there are still many, many morsels of rugby insight and banter a fanatic can enjoy.   

There is the ongoing, often unspoken battle he fought with dozens of coaches, managers, selectors and journalists over what his best position was.  Gregor was a British Lion test stand-off, yet he played much of his career, both club and international, elsewhere.  In late 1996 he played three consecutive games for Scotland, including his first as captain against Australia, in three different positions.  This is obviously an issue that rankles him.

There is also extensive first person coverage of what Townsend ranks as his career highlight – the 1997 British Lions Tour, where Gregor listened to the most inspiring words he had ever heard, two hours before the biggest match of his life, the second test against South Africa.

“When you come to a day like this, you know why you do it all.  You know why you’ve been involved; it’s been a privilege.  It is a privilege, because we’re something special.  You’ll meet each other in the street in thirty years time and there’ll just be a look, and you’ll know just how special some days in your life are...”

Those were the words of Ian McGeechan, but for the most part, the words of Gregor Townsend are more than enough to ensure that any reader will shut the book feeling inspired and fulfilled. 

The book is called Talk of the Toony, and there is no doubt, Toony certainly can talk.

RO
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