Allan Massie: Time to try and tempt Simon Taylor back as focus turns to World Cup

Published on Friday 25 March 2011 11:53

SCOTLAND beat Italy who beat France who beat Ireland who beat England who beat Wales who beat Scotland . . . Here we go round the mulberry bush and so on. England were the champions, deservedly, but, except for Wales, they were the only team who got worse rather than better as the tournament went on.

This may have been because they were by some way the youngest of the six teams, with an average age a couple of years lower than Scotland's. It is not surprising that the intensity of the tournament took its toll on some of their youngsters. Ben Youngs, for example, still only 21, started brilliantly, ended poorly.

Some, rightly full of admiration for Ireland's magnificent demolition of England, see this as a championship, even Grand Slam that eluded them. They point to the Welsh try that should have been chalked off, and to the fact that Ireland outscored France by three tries to one, nevertheless lost. Well, one almost always feels for a side that is defeated despite scoring more tries than the winners, but the sympathy is not always justified. Back in 1981 Scotland beat Australia 24-15 at Murrayfield, though the try tally was 3-1 in the Wallabies' favour. Andy Irvine kicked five penalties that day, and, as I remember, he was able to do so because time and again when Scotland were in an attacking position, an Australian killed the ball or crept offside. Likewise in the Ireland-France game the Irish preferred to give away penalties rather than risk conceding a try. So in the end the result was a fair one.

Lots of people described the French defeat in Rome as "humiliating", and indeed the French coach, Marc Lievremont, berated his players for "cowardice", by which I think he meant a reluctance to assume responsibility when the game turned against them. He had a point there, France having lost 21-22 after being 18-6 ahead with 20 minutes to go. If there was "humiliation" it lay in the manner of the defeat rather than the defeat itself. Italy have beaten Scotland and Wales at home. They came close to beating England last year and it took a last-minute drop goal from Ronan O'Gara to deny them a win over Ireland on the first day of the championship.

There has been much speculation about what the tournament tells us about the six countries' chances in the World Cup. "Not a lot" is the probable answer, first because the RWC is still six months away, and form in the Spring tells us little about form in the Autumn. In any case every country did some things which might encourage optimism, and others which must dent it. England and France remain the two northern sides with the best chance of winning the cup. They are, after all, the only two of the six countries to have beaten the All Blacks in New Zealand.Yet the manner in which England were swept aside by Ireland's pace, skill and ferocity bodes ill for their chance, while France still seem more likely to win one or two big matches than to go all the way. Yet, simply because they have a much more experienced side - and also the best pair of half-backs in the Six Nations - they may well go further than England. As far as we are concerned, I hold to the opinion that the Six Nations matters more to us than the World Cup, simply because we will always be more likely to win the northern tournament than the global one. That said, our World Cup record is respectable, in that, unlike Ireland and Wales, we have at least always qualified for the quarter-final. Nevertheless, in the six Cups to date, if we have never lost to a team we were expected to beat, we have never beaten one to whom we were expected to lose. Actually if we get out of our pool by beating either England or Argentina - having already defeated Romania and Georgia, neither a pushover - we will have done as well as can reasonably be expected. However unless we come out top of the group we are likely to find ourselves up against the All Blacks in the quarters, which would probably be "end of story". Of course France may beat New Zealand in their pool - in which case we would do better to come second in ours.

We do have one advantage lacking in previous Cups - a coach who has been there before. Though Clive Woodward was the organiser of England's triumph in 2003, most of the hands-on coaching was the responsibility of Andy Robinson. So he knows what's required.

I would imagine that Robinson and his fellow coaches have already inked in the names of pretty well the whole squad they will be taking to New Zealand., and I would hope that, given the lowly position of Edinburgh and Glasgow in the Magners League, they would suggest politely that some at least of the first-choice Scotland team be given an early holiday to refresh them for what's to follow. Unfortunately, they have no say concerning the club calls made on half their first XV. Perhaps they will tempt Simon Taylor back into the squad. He is fitter than he has been for years, having played 18 matches for Bath this season, most of them for the full 80 minutes. He may no longer be the explosive runner of his youth, but given that we have four physically- as well as mentally - demanding pool games, his experience and defensive ability would surely be invaluable.