Rugby-Scotland boss Townsend learning from Man City's Guardiola

Oct 24 (Reuters) - Scotland's rugby head coach Gregor Townsend is inspired by Pep Guardiola's management style and wants to emulate the former Barcelona boss in building a team which has the right balance between attack and defence.

Former Glasgow Warriors coach Townsend replaced Vern Cotter as Scotland boss in May and led the team to two wins in three tests in June as they beat Australia and Italy.

As Townsend prepares for his first home series in charge, the 44-year-old is looking at the methods of Guardiola, who led Barcelona to 14 trophies in four years.

"My aim is to create a Scotland team full of work-rate, energy and speed," Townsend told BBC Radio. "Defence and work-rate defines winning teams. I believe people watch Guardiola's attack more than his defence.

"But his teams at Barcelona had a rule to win back the ball. They started at seven seconds, and then it went down to three seconds.

"What we see is those three great passes and the goal to win 7-2. What we don't see is how they got the ball in the first place. Defence is linked to the attack."

Guardiola's current team Manchester City lead the Premier League table and are on a 11-game winning streak across all competitions.

Scotland play Samoa at Murrayfield on Nov. 11, followed by games against New Zealand and Australia in the following weeks. (Reporting by Aditi Prakash in Bengaluru; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)