Sawt Falasteen - Townsend bullish on Scotland's Six Nations prospects

Townsend, who will take charge of his ninth Six Nations campaign, came under scrutiny in November after his side blew promising positions before losing to New Zealand and Argentina.

That followed disappointing fourth-placed finishes in the Six Nations for the past two years.

"I do believe the way the team played throughout 2025 in some of our biggest games -- when I think back to New Zealand, France, England -- the players have performed at a really high level," Townsend said at the tournament launch on Monday at Edinburgh Castle.

"Even though we had those painful moments of not winning against New Zealand and Argentina, I see that as positive.

"They were not positive at the time, obviously, but what we learned can help us when we're going to have those moments of adversity."

Since the Autumn despair, the mood around Scottish rugby has been lifted by the form of Glasgow Warriors.

Franco Smith's side lead the United Rugby Championship and have defeated Toulouse and Saracens over the past month to make a perfect start in the Champions Cup.

"The fact Glasgow are playing really well and a lot of our players come from the Glasgow team, that is a positive going into the tournament," added Townsend.

"Last year we played four games at a really good level, but we didn't play the fifth one against Ireland anything like we needed to.

"If we can get that same level of performance over five games with the learnings that we've had since then, we'll be a very competitive team."

Scotland begin their campaign with a tricky trip to an improving Italy before England visit Murrayfield aiming for a first win in Edinburgh since 2020.

Townsend's men then travel to Wales and host France before visiting Ireland on the final weekend of the tournament.

S.AbuJamous--SF-PST