Hastings opens up options for Townsend

IF YOU were to ask different Scottwo land fans for their assessment of the tour of the Americas, you would be forgiven if you thought they hadn't seen any of the same matches.

-  JOE SANTAMARIA

For some, the tour was viewed as a chance to rest major stars after a gruelling year. Others felt that they should have been taking their strongest possible squad to one of the southern hemisphere powerhouses. In some cases, fans criticised the number of long-haul flights in the schedule.

One gets the impression Georgia would have been all too happy to host Townsend's men if they were looking for something less exotic.

Townsend has been at the helm long enough to know that such criticisms are inevitable and he likely pays them no heed. He certainly won't be quick out the blocks to address any of these issues and he shouldn't have to. After all, history may well look back on this tour very fondly, even if it failed to produce the kind of emotional highs witnessed elsewhere last month.

First and foremost, the tour provided Townsend with the commodity prized above all by international coaches: time. Scotland's four matches were more than any of the other home nations and will have offered their head coach invaluable opportunities to assess his squad, 10 of whom were uncapped when they headed to Canada five weeks ago.