Iain Morrison: Dream team's wake-up call

Published on Saturday 23 May 2009 19:49

ANDY ROBINSON has never seemed like the kind of character to walk away from a fight, which is probably just as well since that is exactly what he's got on his hands ever since the news broke that Eddie Jones and Jake White had thrown their hats into the ring for the Scotland job.

The information was met with widespread incredulity although it turns out to be true. More than that, the two men who teamed up to steer South Africa to the World Cup two years ago have pitched another joint effort to the Scottish Rugby Union. It is said to be a buy-one-get-one-half-price deal whereby one of the two men would act as the full-time head coach for Scotland, based here and permanent, while the other was hired as a consultant on an occasional basis.

While White was the main man for the Springboks, with Australian Jones acting as adviser, it seems likely that the roles would be reversed in Scotland. Jones is a nomad who has worked all over the world and would have no trouble settling in Edinburgh. White already has numerous business interests in South Africa that he would be loath to abandon and he would most likely stay there while moving to Scotland for just a few months of the year to help the squad during the Six Nations and autumn internationals.

The idea of hiring two World Cup-winning coaches has its attractions. It would certainly send out a strong message of intent by a country that is fast being marginalised by the big boys in the international playground. The rugby world would at least sit up and take notice for the first time in a while.

Jones is said by those who know him to be a phenomenally hard-working coach, which will appeal to SRU chief Gordon McKie, although he is also a proponent of the rugby-by-numbers playing style that undermined so much that Matt Williams did. Scotland's last Australian coach parted company with Ulster last week and it's not obvious that the highly structured pattern of play, whereby numerous phases of play are pre-ordained, will be any more successful for Scotland just because it is coming from Jones rather than Williams.

At least Jones has international experience to call upon. He took a very average Wallaby team all the way to the World Cup final in 2003 where they made England sweat for their win. He was sacked two years later after a run of eight losses in nine matches, culminating in a 24-22 defeat to Wales at the Millennium Stadium, left him with the worst winning percentage (57 per cent) of any Australian coach in the modern era; still ahead of Robinson's 40 per cent success rate with England.

Jones originally made his name by taking the Brumbies to the 2001 Super 12 title but he enjoyed considerably less success with the Queensland Reds. Given a three-year contract in 2007, he lasted just one season in which his team lost nine in a row and were humiliated 92-3 by the Bulls in the last match to finish bottom of the table.

Everyone is allowed to make mistakes, it's how the smart coaches learn, but for Murrayfield to appoint Jones with his recent record at provincial and international level would be a risk. Jake White is untainted by any such failures but then again the South African has never before coached outside of his own homeland; for a man who has reached the top he is extremely inexperienced in the wider world of rugby.

There is one additional element to all this, a fourth name in the hat. It appears that one more top class former Test coach has applied for the post with many pointing the finger at another Australian in the shape of John "Knuckles" Connolly. He coached the Wallabies to the semi-finals of the last World Cup where they were beaten by England and, while Connolly originally made his name with the Reds, he does have extensive experience of coaching in the UK with both Swansea and Bath

If he is the fourth man, Connolly's inclusion will certainly spice up the campaign since he and Jones fell out in spectacular fashion back in Australia. Jones accused his successor with the Wallabies of undermining his position at the Reds. Meanwhile someone put the word out that Jones was acting like he was still the Wallaby coach, contacting players all across the country rather than concentrating on Queensland. Whatever the sorry truth of the matter, Scottish rugby certainly doesn't need any lessons in political infighting.

For any number of reasons, Robinson retains his favourite's tag. He has experience of the game in Scotland so there would be no bedding in period. If he gets the job he will hit the ground running, if he doesn't he will probably just run back home. Robinson also has a World Cup win to his credit, as Martin Johnson made clear back in 2003.

It was well known that Clive Woodward did very little of the day-to-day coaching but, ahead of England's World Cup semi-final against France, the head man wandered into the middle of an open England training session in the presence of hundreds of cameras and television crews sporting a tracksuit that no-one knew he even owned. The big England skipper took his "coach" to one side and gently suggested he leave the field forthwith. Robinson was the hands-on, day-to-day coach and he deserves as much credit as anyone for plotting England's finest hour.

Closer to home he has taken a distinctly average Edinburgh team, not one of whose players made it into the Magners Dream XV for the season, to second place in the league. Edinburgh were ranked 32nd in Europe when Robinson got the gig and they are currently in 12th place; ahead of Biarritz, Bath, Sale and Stade Francais. It's not success as such, but it's the closest a Scottish pro-team has come to it for a good few years and it should ensure Robinson gets the nod.