Robinson stresses the positives as his charges draw another blank

Published on Saturday 13 March 2010 21:04

NONE OF the answers to any of the great mysteries of the world are closer to resolution this morning, no breakthrough in the meaning of life, no clue as to what is really going on in the Bermuda Triangle and certainly no advance in the greatest riddle of them all – why Scotland are incapable of scoring a try and winning a game.

That's five try blanks in their last six. What were the possession statistics? Don't ask. But whatever the number is, it is overwhelmingly in Scotland's favour. The only mercy from their perspective was that England failed to knock over a late penalty to clinch a victory that would have seen Andy Robinson brought out of Murrayfield in a strait-jacket.

On a balmy evening we were presented with a brutal match. Maybe there is a constituency of people that revel in watching scrums collapse and being reset over and over again, perhaps there are some who get a kick out of that kind of thing, but for the rest there was little more than a grim battle.

England were appalling; negative and error-ridden. What on earth has happened to them? There isn't an ounce of attitude in their ranks, not a suggestion of swagger. If the old Scottish criticism of the "arrogant English" was apt once upon a time, then it is no more. They looked anxious and unwilling to play, stifled by tactics designed to hold Scotland at bay rather than beat them.

"We've played four and we could have won them all," said England manager Martin Johnson, before adding: "We would have lost them all as well." How true. "We did some very good things and some very silly things. We relieved the pressure on Scotland through our own mistakes. But considering how much ball they had, our defence was good. We could have won it, but I won't say we should have won it. I can't say that."

Scotland were better. They tried to play, for sure. Their mindset was more positive but they didn't warrant victory. In the scramble for the crumbs of comfort, they will come out on top. They'll take pleasure out of the continuing development of their back-row and, of course, the blessing of their first point. But how long will this live in the memory, though? Whoosh. There, it's gone already.

Interesting to hear the coaches' take on it. Andy Robinson and Johnson are alike in a lot of ways; intense and honest. But they didn't half view this thing in different ways. Johnson said it wasn't pretty on the eye. Robinson, in a Haddenesque moment, reported that the game was enjoyable, that you needed to be a bit of a philistine not to appreciate it.

What about the lack of entertainment, he was asked. "I was very entertained," he responded, to the mystification of his audience. "The players felt it was very dynamic. The contest was very good. I know the lineout battle will bore a lot of you. You probably don't understand it. Those are intricacies of the game and we competed well."

Robinson is not just a coach, he's a campaign manager for this team. It's an admirable quality because if he doesn't talk things up then nobody else will. He's seen how dejected Scotland has become as a rugby nation, how quick people are to drop the heads and bemoan their fate. Year after year of failure has done it. Year after year of false dawns and tremendous flops. He's trying to inspire a team, but really he's also attempting to galvanise a country. And you feel for him in this regard.

The man is desperate for a victory. It's the rock upon which he can start to build some confidence, but it steadfastly refuses to come. His struggle is heroic in a sense. He is Mr Upbeat, delivering a political broadcast on behalf of the Positivity Party.

"We put England under a lot of pressure and we just chose some wrong options. But we're getting there. We're learning. We've improved since the Italy game. We're a good shape and a good framework. It will come. Our back-row was immense. We had good performers all over the pitch and we took a step forward this week. We look forward to going to Dublin now and playing in the last rugby game at Croke Park. It's a great stadium and we want to go out and play."

Robinson can be effusive, but when it suits him, he's also good at saying a lot by saying a little. Was he frustrated that no Englishman was shown a yellow card for persistent professional fouls at the breakdown. "Yes," he smiled. And? "At one stage I thought the card was coming out of his pocket, then it was back in again."

And the scrummaging farrago? A little scoff that told you a multitude. Then an explanation. "There was reset after reset and both teams have a duty to keep them up. The IRB will look at it and we'll look at it."

If this game is remembered for anything it may be for the passage of play 13 minutes from the end. Scotland were trailing 15-12, but had a Dan Parks penalty to come. Murrayfield waited and wondered and fretted.

Parks was a distance away but he struck it sweetly but the ball struck the upright and as it broke loose, Scotland had their chance.

Al Kellock, alert to the possibility, galloped on to it, sucking in some English cover before offloading to the substitute Alan MacDonald. Now England were in trouble. Big trouble. They scragged and they scrambled, every one of them knowing that a breakthrough now was the death knell.

Could Scotland produce something? Can they ever in these situations? You'd need a long memory to recall a day when this team needed a try at the tail-end of a Test match and got it. The chance came and went, Parks tried a dink over the top and England gathered. Referee Marius Jonker awarded the Scots a penalty and Parks put it over.

Game tied. And soon, game over. Mercifully.