A gifted fly-half who is also equally adept at centre and full-back, there is probably a part of Gregor Townsend that sees a little bit of himself in Tom Jordan.
During his own career, Townsend played most of his best rugby at 10 but was no stranger to slotting in at 12, 13 or 15 when called upon.
Although it is still a relatively small sample size given that Jordan only made his Scotland debut back in the autumn, this already looks to be the role he will fill for the national squad.
This man of many talents is swiftly carving a reputation as the Swiss Army Knife in Scotland’s backline after being named at inside centre for Sunday’s crunch Six Nations clash with Ireland.
One of three changes from last weekend’s victory over Italy, Jordan comes in to start at 12 in place of his Glasgow Warriors club-mate Stafford McDowall.
It represents a bold new plan of attack from Townsend, who has rolled the dice and gone with a second playmaker in Scotland’s midfield.
The safe play would have been to stick with McDowall. He is solid and reliable, viewed as a model of consistency by regular observers of Glasgow.
He also played well against Ireland in Dublin last year on what was his first ever start in the Six Nations.
But, with ball in hand, Jordan offers a greater point of difference. There was far greater zip and tempo to their play when he came off the bench against Italy last week.
Now picked from the start, it’s a selection which signals a clear intent from Townsend that Scotland will go on the attack.
Is it a gamble? Yes, probably. But it is a punt worth taking if it helps Scotland finally crack the green code and bring an end to their long, miserable run against the Irish.
‘With Tom, it was great to see him play last week like he did in the 15 jersey for us in November, like he’s done in the 10 jersey for Glasgow for a few years now,’ said Townsend.
‘He just brought that off the bench at 12 against Italy last week – and 12 was probably his natural position.
‘It was the position he played most of his rugby growing up, so yeah, I think he deserves an opportunity to start.
‘Tom called for the ball a lot last week, he was really aggressive and pro-active in defence, and it was really just following on from what he did for us in November.’
The way in which Jordan dovetails with Finn Russell will be key to making sure Scotland fire in attack, with both players essentially able to serve as a decoy for each other.
There were times in the win over Italy when Russell tried to force things too much, perhaps conscious of the lack of options outside him at second receiver in the absence of Sione Tuipulotu.
The inclusion of Jordan is intended to solve that – and the Glasgow man also has his own personal history when it comes to facing Irish teams.
In his breakthrough season with the Warriors a couple of years ago, Jordan was sent off for a high tackle in a defeat to Munster in the Pro14 play-offs.
Last season, he was instrumental as Glasgow travelled to Thomond Park and beat Munster en route to winning the title.
Most of his best work with Glasgow has come at fly-half. But he has also covered 12 – and done it well – at various points over the last couple of seasons.
Given that he excelled for Scotland at full-back in the autumn, his versatility is becoming a huge asset to Townsend.
His ability to cover multiple positions allows them to go with a six-two split on the bench, as they have done for this match against an Ireland team looking to win a third straight Six Nations title.
Jamie Dobie and McDowall are the two backs on the bench, with Dobie’s ability to cover scrum-half and the wing seeing him get the nod ahead of George Horne.
The other two changes in the starting XV sees Jack Dempsey come in at No 8 and Rory Sutherland start at loosehead in place of Pierre Schoeman.
‘Along with Tom, Jack and Rory did really well off the bench last week,’ said Townsend. ‘Jack obviously was getting back to full fitness. He’s been a starter for us for a few years now and we’re confident he’s good to go.
‘I think Rory and Pierre have been competing really hard over the last few months for that starting jersey and I feel Rory has earned it, he brings a lot of speed, both in his kick-chase, his defence and his ball-carrying.’
Given the strength of Ireland’s bench, Scotland’s best chance of success will be if they can build an early lead and hang on towards the end.
Too often in the past they have been blown away, such as in the World Cup game in Paris when they trailed 36-0 after an hour.
‘Ireland are a top side and they have been for a number of years, clearly favourites for this game and looking to win three Six Nations in a row, which would be unprecedented,’ added Townsend.
‘So yeah, all credit to them, they’ve worked hard to be one of the top teams in the world and they’ve kept that going over the last couple of years.’
Peter O’Mahony was Scotland’s tormentor-in-chief at the Stade de France, as he has been so often over the years.
He’s been wheeled out for what will be a last hurrah at Murrayfield, Ireland’s great enforcer restored to their back row.
Sam Prendergast also gets the nod at 10 ahead of Jack Crowley, with Scotland looking to target the 21-year-old as much as possible.
There’s been a lot of chat and debate in Ireland this week about whether Prendergast or Crowley should play against Scotland.
The idea of playing both of them in the same team – with Crowley at 12 – was even mentioned as a possibility. That won’t happen for as long as Bundee Aki is part of the equation.
For now, it’s Scotland who have chosen to go with twin playmakers. Townsend will hope Jordan and Russell can be a deadly double act to inspire a victory that would blow the championship wide open.
