Wooden Spoon The Wake Up Call Scotland Deserve

Italy 13-6 Scotland

by Dugald Skene

Without being ignorant to Saturday’s result in Rome, I’m not sure that my reaction to Scotland’s tournament as a whole would have been much different had we won or lost that final match.

Italy’s well deserved win on the day condemned Scotland to a defeat that just went to serve as a bitter aftertaste to an already foul-tasting championship and put into perspective the task facing the SRU, coaching staff and players going forward.

The 13-6 score line conveniently bookended a 5 game run which started with such a disappointing result to England by the same score.  We saw some encouraging spells from Scotland for around 2 matches in total, but far more of the same old demons that seem to beset the Scottish game all too often.

The most upsetting thing about Saturday's defeat was the manner in which Scotland went into the game.  After such a poor start, they were lucky to only be 3-0 down after 25 minutes as the mistakes, turnovers and missed tackles mounted up.  Scotland were dismal from the get-go, and in a game they knew they had to win, there was very little fight.

This may all sound particularly negative, however I struggle to feel anything other than a huge sense of disappointment in the fallout from the tournament.  As Wales celebrate their deserved grand slam, Scotland are the ones sitting in the corner of the empty disco, bleary eyed and surveying the mess that has gone before.  But there are some positives, and almost all of them can be found in the pack. 

Both David Denton and Ross Rennie both shone from the first game against England with their work at the breakdown and their ball carrying efforts.  Nobody in the tournament carried the ball more than Denton.  Both players started to suffer from an over-reliance by the team on their superb form and they both looked tired against Italy in Rome, which I can wholly understand.  John Barclay also regained his form at 6, translating his experience and natural aptitude of playing at openside to the blind side with very good effect, providing Scotland with a very mobile back row.

David Denton's performances provided a little light in an

otherwise very dark tournament for Scotland

Richie Gray stood out from the crowd in every sense.  His work at the lineout was exceptional but again started to give up more ball in the final two games where Scotland lost their first two lineouts of the tournament against Ireland and more against an average Italian lineout.  Unsurprisingly, the form of the lineout was directly correlated with that of Scotland’s captain and hooker Ross Ford who led by example in the first 3 fixtures before seemingly weaken under the pressure of performance and responsibility as Scotland’s woes continued.

The backs have been an altogether more depressingly familiar story.  After the badly handled and embarrassing retirement of Dan Parks following the England game, which seems an age ago now, Robinson looked to be positive with the reshuffle, selecting players on form.  Nobody could have really argued with the line-up for Wales from the available players Robinson had.  Greig Laidlaw had an impact on the game and the early introduction of Stuart Hogg was probably the single best highlight of Scotland’s campaign, his electric running giving a glimpse of what could yet be for Scotland’s future.  And yet it seemed that a defiant performance, despite the loss, was enough for the press and bloggers alike to write words of encouragement which in turn seemed like a public acceptance that this team was the right one to take forward for the duration.  Or at least, that’s how it appeared for Robinson.

There were problems.  The centre pairing is still unknown.  Robinson played Graeme Morrison, Max Evans, Nick de Luca and Sean Lamont in various combinations, none of which were particularly successful.  Morrison was solid if unspectacular, Lamont is not a natural centre, Max Evans is too lightweight in my opinion and Nick de Luca’s 2 yellow cards against Wales and Italy overshadowed his excellent performance against the French.  His personal journey in the last 7 weeks has been fairly reflective of the team as a whole.  Laidlaw got weaker at 10 as the tournament went on, his deficiencies with the boot becoming all too obvious game after game.  Lee Jones' introduction to the national team was all a bit much for him at times.  His size was exposed several times and his two missed tackles on Julien Malzieu and Andrew Trimble led to game winning tries.

So where now for Scotland?  7 consecutive losses, all in tournament play would signal the end of any coach under normal circumstances, but the situation at Scotland is not normal.  Despite one of the most catastrophic spells in Scottish rugby, failing to reach the RWC quarter finals for the first time followed by a first whitewash in 8 years in the 6 Nations, there seems to be a general consensus that Andy Robinson is the right man for the job, or at least more right than any other option.

In my opinion, he will be doing well not to walk away, but I don’t want him to.  His personal influence seems clear on the team and his tactics have been sound on the whole.  His game time decision making, particularly with substitutions, has been called into question with it being implied that he pre-plans his subs prior to the game, an accusation he vehemently denies.

Robinson is a coach, first and foremost.  His influence on the Scottish forwards has been clear and extremely positive, taking them forward, so to speak, from the RWC leaps and bounds.  His role as media point man and ring master doesn’t sit as well with him and he clearly struggles at times when cameras are thrust in his face; his occasional brutal honesty is often as naïve as it is refreshing.  He is a hands on coach who works well behind the scenes, as he was for England as number 2 to Clive Woodward.

He should stay, but there needs to be a shake-up with his setup.  It’s easy to say, especially as it has already happened with Graham Steadman and Gregor Townsend leaving the national set up and Antipdoean instalments Scott Williams and Matt Taylor due to start their work in June.  The way the SRU has handled these appointments and transferrals within the organisation, not least with Townsend replacing Lineen at Glasgow Warriors, has been appalling.  For whatever reason, the SRU don’t fire people.  Instead, they relocate their ‘resources’ around meaning people like Townsend get inexplicably promoted to head coach of Glasgow while Lineen has a position invented for him which is essentially head of a recruitment agency.

At the end of the day, change is needed and at least we can say that change is coming.  What effect it will have can hopefully only be positive after such a truly terrible (and this is not an exaggeration) 6 Nations.  Scotland are better than this, they have to be. Conceding an average of 22 points a game is unacceptable, scoring 11 points a game not much better.  With 6 test matches between now and the RWC 2015 pools being selected, it will take a miracle for Scotland to not be in the third pool, and with games away in Australia and at home New Zealand and South Africa, there will be many predicting a further slide down the rankings and a possible entry into the 4^th pool.

There is a lot of work to be done, and it starts now.  The 2012 6 Nations is over, and it has to now be forgotten.