BOB CASEY'S DIARY:Scotland coach Andy Robinson is a meticulous planner and he will demand for a big improvement from his charges when Ireland visit Edinburgh
SCOTLAND COACH Andy Robinson will be absolutely furious with the national side after what can only be described as a horror show against Wales at Murrayfield. The irony of the Scots’ abject performance is it came in a week after one of their most accomplished attacking displays in scoring three tries against France at the Stade de France.
Robinson has done an excellent job since taking over as Scotland coach, bringing the country to seventh in the world rankings. He thoroughly merits his new contract that will keep him at the helm until after the 2015 World Cup. He’s battled to try and overcome the fact that Scottish rugby lacks depth in terms of quality at the moment but the performance graph is more up than down in recent times.
I was talking to London Irish backs coach Mike Catt about his former Bath and England team-mate in seeking an insight into the man. Catty said Robinson was known as the “rugby pig” during his playing days in that he ate, slept and drank rugby. He was so intense about the sport that on occasion he would grunt at team-mates when greeted.
There is little doubt he is a better manager, person and coach from the time when he was in charge at England, a fact he acknowledged himself in a recent interview. He found that pressure unrelenting and wanted a manager – the request was turned down – to help him deal with some of the off field commitments. There appears little doubt he has matured and mellowed as a person, though the Perspex window in the coach’s booth at Murrayfield might beg to differ after Saturday.
Traditionally the Scots have been famous for their rucking, the ability to secure quick ball and creating chaos in opposition ranks. In some respects it is a negative philosophy but one borne out of a lack of depth in high-grade talent. Robinson is pragmatically cutting his cloth rather than adopting unrealistic patterns. The problem against Wales was the Scots were awful.
They could not execute the most straight -forward gambit and were a liability to themselves in possession; they coughed up 13 errors in the first 55 minutes alone.
Despite their travails of the weekend, the Scots have proved doughty opponents for Ireland in the last couple of seasons.
In 2009, the year of the Irish Grand Slam, the visitors eked out a narrow 22-15 win in Edinburgh, while last year the Scots came to Dublin and spoiled the party at the final match to be played in Croke Park by winning 23-20. That was in a season for Robinson’s men when they drew with England and, but for an extraordinary collapse in the final 10 minutes, should have beaten Wales in Cardiff.
The Scots gave Ireland huge trouble out of touch and they’ll target this area again when the Irish visit the Scottish capital in a fortnight’s time. Richie Gray will return and Robinson will probably shift Nathan Hines to the backrow as he did against France, thereby including thee secondrows.
Judging by his performance against Wales, it seems Scotland tighthead prop Euan Murray doesn’t play at weekends rather than just Sundays. He won’t be available for the Ireland match because of his religious beliefs but on the evidence of the improvement in the scrum when Murray Low came on, Murray won’t be missed.
There’s little doubt Robinson has managed to elicit the best from meagre resources. Catt was telling me his old fried is a meticulous planner, something he learned under Clive Woodward. Robinson’s passion for the game shines through. His philosophy is based on securing quick ball and supplementing it with an offloading game.
He’ll have been so angry with the way his team performed against the Welsh, especially when the latter were down to 13 men at one point. When Ireland travel to Edinburgh the key will be replicate what the Welsh did and successfully target and isolate Dan Parks. Most teams target the opposing outhalf – we had a simple game plan when we played Sale Sharks that was called “Go get Charlie (Hodgson)” – and Wales sent Jamie Roberts down that channel to great effect.
Parks had a big say in beating Ireland at Croke Park but he is vulnerable defensively. If his kicking game, from hand and the placed ball, isn’t working then he doesn’t offer much else. Robinson tried to expand Scotland’s patterns last season by dropping him; given the dearth of talent though he ended up reinstating him and was rewarded by some decent performances.
The Scots will send runners round the corner of rucks once and then again but if they don’t get any go forward ball, Parks will then drop into the pocket and kick. It’s a limited game plan – marginally ahead of Italy’s – but the Scotland coach doesn’t have much of an alternative.
Robinson is good at adapting to unfolding events during a match, communicating simply and effectively to change his team’s tactics; a high point in this respect would have been the Scots’ second half performance at Croke Park. When Ireland travel to Edinburgh, the home side will rely heavily on a good kick-chase game and creating chaos.
The remit for Ireland will fall under a number of headings. The back three, with Luke Fitzgerald as a fulcrum, need to work their socks off to get back and provide options in counter-attacking from punts. The visitors must also apply kick pressure to Parks.
A key ingredient in the Welsh victory at the weekend was they put the Scottish backrow on the ground and took them out of the equation as dynamic ball carriers and prevented them from fulfilling their support roles. It had a massive impact on the outcome, as did the Welsh blitz defence.
A coach’s primary function is to get the best out of his players and Robinson has done that, last Saturday’s aberration notwithstanding. They will be a lot better against Ireland but a measure of the progress that Ireland are making will be gleaned from how they deal with the challenge on Sunday week.
