Gregor Townsend

Gregor Peter John Townsend (born 26 April 1973) is a Scottish professional rugby union coach and former player who has been coaching the Scotland national team since 2017.

Townsend was born in April 1973 in Galashiels.

His efforts across all four games helped Scotland to claim the Championship for the first time since 1990.

Later that year, he was selected for his first ever Rugby World Cup, where he played in every Scotland game.

However, Scotland failed to progress past the quarter-finals after losing to New Zealand 30–18.

He was capped by Scotland 'B' to play Ireland 'B' on 28 December 1991 and played in the Scotland 'B' side against France 'B' in the spring of 1992.

He played for Scotland 'A' in the 'A' side's first match, against Spain.

He received 5 'A' caps in total.

In 1993, Townsend spent a season in Australia, playing for Warringah in the Shute Shield.

He was part of the team that came runners-up to Gordon, losing 23–19.

Townsend made his international debut at the age of 19, coming off the bench against England on 6 March 1993 during the 1993 Five Nations Championship.

It wasn't until a year later that Townsend gained his second cap, which was a starting position against Wales during the 1994 Five Nations Championship.

He then started the next 35 tests for Scotland before he was next played off the bench.

He graduated in 1995 from the University of Edinburgh with an MA degree in History and Politics.

Townsend started playing for his local club Gala RFC, where his father had played, and came through from the mini section to senior side.

He returned to the club in 1995 after leaving his local side Gala.

In 1995, Townsend joined English side Northampton Saints for the 1995–96 Courage League National Division Two, where he helped the side to promotion to the top English division for 1996.

He remained with the club for a further two seasons in the top English division before moving to France to play for Brive in the French Rugby Union Championship.

In December 1996 he represented the Barbarians, playing against Australia at Twickenham.

In 1997, he was selected for the British Lions tour to South Africa by Ian McGeechan.

He played in six games, including starting against South Africa in the first and second tests.

Townsend was awarded an MBE in 1999 for services to rugby.

During the 1999 Five Nations Championship, Townsend scored a try against every other country, becoming the first Scotsman since 1925 to achieve this feat.

Across the two seasons he played for the club, Brive did not make much success which saw Townsend move to play for Castres Olympique in 2000.

In Townsend's first season with Castres, the side topped Pool 1 which saw them advance through to the quarter-finals where they defeated Colomiers 37–26.

However, Castres failed to make the final after losing to Toulouse 32–21 in the semi-final.

Following a disappointing 2001–02 Top 16 season, Townsend returned to Scotland to play for Border Reivers.

In April 2002 he became Scotland's most capped player when he overtook the 65 full international appearances achieved by Scott Hastings.

After retiring from international rugby in 2003, in December of that year Townsend signed with Super 12 South African side the Sharks.

He played a single season for the Sharks outfit before he returned to France to play for Montpellier.

He was again selected for Scotland's World Cup squad in 2003, and again played in every game.

However, Scotland again did not progress past the quarter-finals, as they lost to hosts Australia 33–16.

In 2005, Townsend returned home to Scotland for a second time and was a player/coach for the Border Reivers until they were disbanded at the end of the 2006–07 season.

He played for South of Scotland District in the Scottish Inter-District Championship.

Townsend was previously the assistant coach from 2009 to 2012.

As a player, he won 82 caps for Scotland and two for the British and Irish Lions.

He is a former coach of Glasgow Warriors and was a player-coach for Border Reivers.

As well as in Scotland, he played club rugby in Australia, England, France and South Africa.

As coach of Scotland, his team won at Twickenham for the first time in 38 years in 2021.

Townsend was selected as attack coach for the 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa.