Iain Morrison: Taking one game at a time, but half an eye still on 2011

Published on Saturday 7 November 2009 20:29

SATURDAY WILL mark a milestone in the rehabilitation of Scotland's new coach when he leads a team in his first Test match for three years. He looked dead and buried back in 2006 when Argentina beat his England team 25-18 at Twickenham. Robinson declined to walk the plank, and 17 days later he was forced out.

The next three weekends will test the coach's abilities with three very different opponents, from Fiji's extravagance to Argentina's brute forward strength. All three (Australia are the other opponents) are ranked above Scotland and it promises to be an intriguing series. While three victories are conceivable, three losses are not impossible in which case any fans in the vicinity of the coaches' booth at Murrayfield had better come armed with ear plugs.

Robinson is both passionate and vocal. He always had too much energy to lie down for long and his reputation has recovered swiftly. The little Englishman dragged Edinburgh to their best ever league finish and he oversaw the Scotland A team triumph 67-7 against Ireland in 2008 before leading them to the Nations Cup last summer. The only blot on his copybook occurred in the Heineken Cup where Edinburgh won a meagre four matches in 12 outings on his watch.

It is worth returning to that "A" team victory over Ireland in Perth since it represents the distillation of Robinson's rugby philosophy made flesh. He won't reach those heights very often but that performance is what he is always aiming at. On the day his team played at a tempo that veered just the right side of frantic. The home side attacked with the ball in hand, constantly changing the point and angle of attack, and they were aggressive in everything they did. Robinson likes aggressive players, which is why at least one Lamont brother will turn out next week, if not both.

On the field that day, largely out of favour with the senior squad, were the likes of Graeme Morrison, Ben Cairns, Simon Danielli, Moray Low, Al Kellock, Phil Godman, Alan MacDonald, Johnny Beattie, Ally Dickinson and Max Evans, who treated the crowd to a brace of tries and a backflip to celebrate. Many of those same faces will appear in Scotland's full team in the next three weeks and those that don't are probably injured.

You don't have to search with a magnifying glass to find cracks in the Scotland squad but this team also has several notable strengths. The run-on pack will boast ball-playing, athletic forwards and there will be strike runners lurking in the wide channels who will score tries if the inside backs can buy or steal them a yard or two of space.

One thing that Robinson learned from his fraught time as England's head honcho is never to look too far ahead, concentrate on the here and now, win the next match and let next week look after itself.

He will do just that but pundits can't help but peek ahead at the overall race for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and ponder who has stolen an early march. Despite their poor season, Robbie Deans has blooded several impressive youngsters for Australia, France have found Maximes Medard and Mermoz to pin their hopes upon and New Zealand are behind only South Africa in world rugby despite missing the twin cornerstones of their pack in Carl Hayman and Ali Williams. Wales and Ireland are short just one, maybe two, pieces of the jigsaw to be world class, only England continue to underwhelm.

Three years ago, their manager Martin Johnson called for Robinson's resignation but red hot irons would not persuade the Scotland coach to return the favour now or indeed anytime in the future, despite the fact that the current management had won just five from 12 matches after yesterday's disappointment at Twickenham.

Closer to home, giving game time now to Scottish youngsters such as Alex Grove and Moray Low should pay dividends when 2011 rolls around. Scotland are in reasonable shape but will be better served when Ross Rennie, Simon Taylor, Ally Dickinson, Euan Murray, Jim Hamilton, Fraser Brown and others return to press their claims.

Meanwhile the immediate danger lies in investing a little too much emotional capital in the national coach, who is no miracle worker. Robinson has done extraordinarily well to date but the real challenge starts on Saturday and that, as he is fond of reminding everyone, is why they are called Test matches.

Iain Morrison's XV to face Fiji: R Lamont; S Lamont, Morrison, Grove, Danielli; Godman, Cusiter; Jacobsen, Ford, Low, Hines, Kellock, Strokosch, Barclay, Beattie.