By Dugald Skene
Form is a funny thing. Since the World Cup in New Zealand, and arguably before that, Scotland had known very little of it, losing their final two RWC matches and all 5 of their 2012 Six Nations tests.
Yet we find ourselves toasting the Scots as they return home this week from their tour to Australia and the South Seas not only as the only home nation team to win, but to go completely unbeaten after 3 games.
While others have come close, most notably grand slammers Wales, Scotland has put together a run of positive results that could potentially change their fortunes in the coming few years as we head towards 2015.
Following the victory over Fiji last week, the Scots had pulled themselves from their lowliest ranking if 12th to 10th in the IRB system, a win over 9th placed Samoa was paramount to continue their push for a top 8 place come December. That win duly came, albeit in dramatic fashion as debutant Harley scored a try in the final seconds and Laidlaw's subsequent conversion clinched a one point win.
That win takes Scotland up another place to 9th in the latest
revised IRB rankings, far more familiar surroundings with the likes of Samoa
behind them. Let’s not forget, however,
that it won’t take much of a bad result to reverse the recent upward
trend. What was clear from the last few
tests is that the ‘lesser’ southern hemisphere teams are continuing to improve
and will be challenging Scotland’s position in the world rankings on a far more
frequent basis.
John Barclay and Co celebrate the win against Australia
So what to make of this tour? Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, it is
clear that a confidence has returned to the Scotland squad. Expectations were predictably low going into
June with the prospect of a heavy defeat to Australia in the first test very
much at the forefront of many minds. But
a combination of midweek scheduling, Mother Nature and a phenomenal defensive
resolve saw Scotland defeat the hosts for the first time in 30 years on their
soil.
It wasn’t pretty, but it was effective. It stopped the rot that was starting to set
in following those 7 straight defeats and acted as a springboard for what was
coming the team’s way in the islands.
Many thought that one win against Fiji would be the minimum
requirement. After one test, Scotland
had blown that out of the water. Expectations
were quickly revised and talk of a full sweep was on the cards.
What’s impressive about the three wins is how Scotland
managed to build win on win, and managed to fulfil those revised
expectations. It would have been easy to
write off the Australia win as a one off in exceptional circumstances, but Andy
Robinson was able to use that victory and focus his teams minds on continual
improvement in very different conditions.
Secondly, it all happened a little under the radar. It has been proved over recent years that
Scotland do well when the spotlight isn’t on them (think Argentina 2010). With England, Ireland and Wales all competing
in three test series against the top three southern hemisphere teams, attention
was duly diverted away from the Scots. It
was even a struggle to find coverage of the Scotland games. Sky covered the Australia match in the UK,
but only because it filled a midweek gap. The Fiji test was picked up by ESPN
at the last minute and struggled with the intermittent satellite signal as the
game went out live. The Samoa game was
even covered at all.
All this helped the Scots, I think. It may not have been as demanding or
gruelling a tour as others had arranged, but it was exactly the kind of test
Scotland needed to restore some pride and confidence, particularly for the
younger members of the squad. Looking
forward to 2015, it is paramount that players like Matt Scott, Stuart Hogg,
Ryan Grant all get used to a winning culture and even demand it.
Other players have come home with their reputations very much improved. Player of the Tour Al Strokosch looks reborn and dominated his role at 6, working well in tandom with Rennie at openside and the displaced Barclay at 8. With the awaited return of Denton and Brown, competition for places in the back row is ferocious.
Greig Laidlaw performed well in the pivotal 10 role. His game winning kicks against Australia and Samoa have elvated his status once more for Scottish fans, but I still hold reservations over him. Firstly, I don't think his in play kicking game is particularly strong. Is it becasue we've been used to the likes of Dan Parks in the past? Maybe, but his tactical nouse is something that needs improvement. He also only tends to play well when in familar surroundings - in other words, when he has his Edinburgh colleagues to play off. With Blair, Scott, De Luca and now Tim Visser all commanding first team places, Laidlaw is in something of a comfort zone. His impact on the Samoa game wasn't quite what it had been, partly down to the Samoan effort, but also becuase he started with Cusiter at 9, a pairing that hasn't had nearly as much game time as Laidlaw/Blair.
Duncan Weir will be coming home disappointed. For me, he is the longterm solution for Scotland at 10, but holds little hope of fulfilling that ambition with no game time. He works well with Cusiter, who again I see as number one pick in the run up to RWC 2015, and his kicking game is far more established for such a young player. When it comes to the finest of margins in big games, his more containment based game is preferable to Laidlaw's in my opinion.
Overall, a huge amount can be taken from the tour. It was at a level that tested, but did not
break Scotland. November will be the
time to take on the big boys back at Murrayfield, and look to consolidate what
this tour has laid down. New Zealand and
South Africa, home or away, is supremely difficult and Scotland’s chances of
gaining that top 8 ranking by December is as much down to the fate of others
than it is to Scotland’s performances. A
win in either would go a long way towards achieving that short term goal, a
victory against Tonga a necessity.
Whether or not Scotland achieve Pool 2 status for the RWC
2015 draw, there are early signs that Scotland are building positively to the
tournament. There’s a long way to go,
but things are looking up again in Scottish Rugby.
