Rugby: Dan's the man to get drop on goal record

Published on Tuesday 16 March 2010 09:04

ALLY KELLOCK today backed Dan Parks to go on and capture John Rutherford's long-standing Scottish rugby drop goal record before the stand off eventually hangs up his boots.

By slotting a drop goal against England on Saturday – his fourth since being recalled to the team three matches ago – Parks moved on to eight, four behind Rutherford and one behind Craig Chalmers.

Glasgow forward Kellock said: "Dan can claim the drop goal record, given the fact he strikes the ball so sweetly.

"Not only that but Dan knows when the time is right to have a go. That's the most important thing, knowing how to keep the scoreboard ticking over."

Fellow Glasgow player Parks, now on 50 caps, has a strike rate is well behind Pierre Albaladejo, known as France's "Monsieur Le Drop" with 12 from 30 Tests up until 1964.

And Ireland's Ronan O'Gara is well ahead in terms of the total number with 14, albeit from 97 Tests.

England's Jonny Wilkinson is well out in front overall with 33 from 83 tests.

Drop goals can win games – England might have snatched a victory instead of a 15-15 draw at Murrayfield had Toby Flood's effort not been blocked – and Kellock knows that creating a platform for Parks will be a key task for the Scottish line-out against Ireland at Croke Park on Saturday.

In the last three matches of this RBS Six Nations Championship the Scots have conceded only one of their throw-ins while claiming the opposition's nine times.

Kellock admits, though, that taking on the Lions combination of Paul O'Connell and Doncha O'Callaghan, with Leinster's European Cup-winning captain Leo Cullen covering second row from the bench, will be the toughest task yet.

Kellock, who assumed the Scotland captaincy when Chris Cusiter was substituted on Saturday, said: "Our line-out has gone well so far but Ireland are top of the tree in this department, they're second to none.

"It will be a massive challenge. It is all about doing a lot of analysis, looking at where we think we can win the ball and making sure our drills are good.

"We've just got to keep varying our calls. You can't keep doing the same thing throughout the championship and expect to win the ball.

"Against England (Steve] Borthwick was always going to look to do a lot of damage so we had to plan for that and also be prepared for them trying to attack us round the front, as they did on one occasion."

Dylan Hartley threw in quickly then accepted a return pass before being bundled into touch inside the Scottish 22.

Where Scotland occasionally made inroads in attack was in exploiting the line-out tail, often through Johnny Beattie.

And No.8 Beattie said: "Overall that was the best line-out performance we have put in so far.

"Borthwick was an awesome line-out nut but we managed to put on a bit of pressure and get the ball away cleanly most of the time. Now comes probably the best line-out in the competition to confront us so it isn't going to get any easier. But we'll spend part of this week working on improving our line-out and introducing a few changes."

What both Beattie and Kellock are adamant about is they also need to maintain is the quality of the Scottish defence.

Saturday's match was the second time this season Scotland kept their line intact but the Irish have been "shut out" in try terms only once in the past 16 years.

Beattie said: "In the last few games we have mostly been tight in defence. We tried to concentrate on simple things like spreading out when they had the ball.

"In looking to put pressure on England quite a few times we got up off the ground and made dominant tackles. That caused turnovers and created havoc, which is what we tried to do."

Kellock pointed to the way England's potent midfield had been snuffed out and indicated that the inspiration had come from a valiant rearguard action in the win over Australia last November. He added: "England have a very talented set of backs and our defence against them was very good.

"Graeme Morrison and Nick De Luca were absolutely outstanding and worked well as a combination, as well as looking very dangerous with the ball in hand.

"That Australian victory gave us a lot of confidence and reinforced our belief that we don't want to gave any team anything easy against us."

Capped 23 times, Kellock was left convinced he'd enjoyed a unique Murrayfield experience.

He said: "The reception when our team bus drew up an hour and 20 minutes before kick off was the best I'd ever heard at Murrayfield. It made for an emotional time and, by the time we got to the dressing room, the team were ready to play there and then."

Nevertheless, Kellock admitted he was pleased to hear the full-time whistle and backed Graeme Morrison for signalling the end by clearing the charged-down drop goal straight to touch rather than trying to spark a counter attack.

"We had spent the last five or ten minutes under pressure.

"It was disappointing to settle for not getting a win at the end but, with the draw secure, there are times when you have to be sensible."

Kellock had earlier received a blow to the neck which temporarily impaired his speech but he immediately found himself in the thick of the action after getting treatment.

"I had to persuade the doctor that I was okay and immediately had to field a catch and give a pass. Hopefully I proved the point to him by doing that from a field position I don't normally find myself in," he said.