Stepping outside their back yards could help English players grow | Robert Kitson

Striking fact about the Scotland team who stunned England in the Six Nations is that five players, plus coach Gregor Townsend, were shaped by a spell outside domestic comfort zonesMaybe it is just a coincidence but the following among Scotland’s weekend heroes all share something in common. What is it that links Finn Russell, John Barclay, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, Huw Jones and Gregor Townsend, not to mention Ireland’s latest man-of-the-match centre Chris Farrell? Here is a clue: all the leading modern Test coaches have also done something similar, as did England’s World Cup-winning captai…