'Nothing's changed' - Scottish Rugby backs Townsend

Gregor Townsend has been Scotland head coach for eight years

Gregor Townsend retains the full support of Scottish Rugby, says chief executive Alex Williamson, who expects the national head coach to see out his contract through to the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

Pressure has been building on Townsend after a disappointing Autumn Nations Series.

The Scots let slip an opportunity to beat New Zealand and blew a 21-0 lead as they went down to Argentina, with those losses bookended by wins over the United States and Tonga.

Some feel after eight years in the job it is time for a change of head coach, but having extended Townsend's contract in September, Williamson believes he remains the best man for the job.

"We entered into the contract with Gregor with the full expectation he is going to take us through to the World Cup - that hasn't changed," Williamson said following Scottish Rugby's annual meeting.

The Scots were booed off the Murrayfield pitch following the collapse against Argentina and Townsend has been subject to some intense criticism from media and supporters who feel he has taken the national team as far as he can.

Williamson concedes the results in November were not as hoped but says it has not dented his confidence that Scotland have the right coaching team in place.

"The optimism going into the autumn says a lot about the development of the team and I think it would be folly for me to suggest that we weren't all enormously disappointed not to come out of the games, particularly against New Zealand and Argentina, with at least one win," he said.

"I personally, for what it's worth, was really disappointed with the outcome of the New Zealand game, because I actually thought that we could have won that by 20 points.

"The game against Argentina, to be 21-0 up against a team that are probably in the top four often, particularly when they have all their players together, and to not get over the line, was unbelievably deflating and there's no doubt about that."

However, Williamson stressed that he does not "subscribe to the idea" that "we have to throw everything to the wind" as a result.

"I think we have an outstanding coaching group," he added. "I think we saw some real progress in a number of areas and I think there was lots to like, but that doesn't diminish the fact that there was also some things that really didn't go well in the heat of the moment.

"I think we should continue to be very confident that we've got a structure, a coaching group and an ideology about how we want to play rugby in Scotland that we should be confident about - and that's where we are. I don't foresee change there."