Six Nations: Test coaches have a shelf life and Townsend must know he’s near the end

As pressure builds before Calcutta Cup, Scotland’s coach may well have reached the point of diminishing returns. Longevity is great but it only takes you so far

CHOPPING BLOCK: Gregor Townsend knows that this weekend's Calcutta Cup clash against England in the Six Nations is more significant than ever. Pic: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

The witty Anglo-American author Ashleigh Brilliant passed away last September at the age of 91, but his best lines are timeless. Beleaguered sports coaches worldwide will all recognise one of his characteristically pithy observations: “I try to take one day at a time – but sometimes several days attack me at once.”  To be responsible for an under-pressure national side must induce a similar feeling.

So what do you do when coaching life starts serving you lemons? After a while there are only two options: try to ride it out, or accept it might be wiser for someone else to have a go. It can be a delicate judgment, often shaped by non-sporting considerations. Unless it becomes apparent, as seemingly happened with the recently ousted All Blacks coach Scott Robertson, that your dressing room has already made the call for you.