Six Nations: Craig Chalmers backing Stuart Hogg to spark Scots

Craig Chalmers is confident Scotland will perform against France. Picture: Stephen Mansfield

Published on Wednesday 22 February 2012 00:44

AS STUART Hogg prepares to become the latest young talent handed a Scotland starting jersey, there is a sense that the team is on the cusp of something. It all hinges on the selection nous and timing of Andy Robinson and his coaching team.

In the pack, the improvement of Ross Ford, Jim Hamilton and Kelly Brown (albeit not available in this championship) into recognised Test-quality performers, alongside the emergence of Richie Gray and David Denton, roundly talented youngsters still with much time to develop and learn, and the return of Ross Rennie to fitness and the kind of form he promised before injury struck, provide the core of a strong pack for a few years to come.

The only change in today’s announcement of the team to face France is expected to come at blindside flanker, where Alasdair Strokosch has been ruled out by a broken hand. It is expected that Robinson will start John Barclay, a regular openside, there, which will help Scotland’s efforts to run the French pack about the field.

To that forward mix will soon be added Stuart McInally, the Edinburgh blindside/No 8, lock Grant Gilchrist, Glasgow blindside Rob Harley, openside Chris Fusaro and Jon Welsh, the loosehead prop now learning the tighthead ropes, while Sale Sharks No 8 Richie Vernon is another still firmly in the frame.

But the back line is where the bigger decisions lurk currently and with Greig Laidlaw expected to retain the No 10 jersey and Hogg being handed his first Test start against France, the wheels of change in the threequarters are finally beginning to move. The big question ahead of today’s team announcement is where Hogg will start – 13 or 15?

One would expect the Glasgow teenager to be handed the No 15 jersey after showing up well there as a replacement in his first outing against Wales and having found his feet in that role with Glasgow. But Glasgow coach Sean Lineen and the Scotland coaches believe that Hogg’s future lies at outside centre and are reluctant to keep his attacking skills far from the gain-line for long. How long is the question today.

One coach watching on who recognises the challenge from when he first stepped into international rugby is Craig Chalmers. The Melrose coach has worked with much of the current crop of talent with Scotland under-20s and Scotland ‘A’ level, and was full of praise for Hogg and his wonder try in the ‘A’ team’s 35-0 defeat of England Saxons.

He said: “Some people might have thought Hoggy wasn’t ready but he showed against Wales that he was and I think it’s right that he starts now against France. I think full-back suits him right now with a move to centre at some point when he has more experience of Test rugby.

“It’s not easy knowing when to hand a young player his chance, because it often depends on the support he has. I came in [in 1989] with a lot of experience around me so it was a pretty easy transition. Although, when you think about it, inside me Gary [Armstrong] had just one cap from the November, and outside me Sean Lineen [inside centre] was making his debut, too. So that was a new combination, but there were the Hastings in the backs, Iwan Tukalo and Matt Duncan, and Keith Robertson on the bench, who was a great help to me before the game.

“And we had JJ [John Jeffrey], Fin Calder and Derek White, Damien Cronin and David Sole in the forwards. So there was plenty of experience to keep you right and that’s important when you bring young guys in.”

It is fascinating to contrast and compare the emergence of that team, which would go on to win the Grand Slam in 1990, with the current debate over how many of the new crop of thrusting youngsters Robinson picks and when. Scotland have experienced scrum-halves, whoever they choose, a new stand-off, but one with an old head and sharp rugby brain, and, as in 1989, two brothers with an impressive haul of Test match experience in Sean and Rory Lamont. We are not comparing players or teams, but as was the case then the current backs also have a good pack providing the lead – a good back row, strong lineout and improving scrummage.

“As a youngster I was nervous as hell going into my first international,” recalled Chalmers. “But I was also fairly confident.

“There are talented boys coming through now and you saw how Hoggy did, which didn’t surprise me at all, and I also think Matt Scott [Edinburgh inside centre] is ready for a shot at the top level, too.

“We’re crying out for a change in the midfield now. There is not a lot between the guys up for selection but centre has been a problem for Scotland for a number of years, mostly in distribution. Defensively we’ve been strong, but attacking-wise it’s been a problem. We have good attacking backs but you have to get the ball to them at the right times and in space.

“The midfield is like a back row – you have to have the right blend. Jim Renwick and Alastair Cranston were good, England were at their best with Will Carling and Jerry Guscott, and Australia were successful with Tim Horan and Jason Little… a handler and a physical presence, and ideally an inside centre with vision.

“I wouldn’t start Hoggy and Matt together this weekend, because they are inexperienced, but that’s the pairing I see in the near future. They would get that ball moving to the wings and full-back, which is what I think would turn this team into winners.”

That 10-12-13 axis has undoubtedly kept Robinson, Gregor Townsend and Graham Steadman awake at nights as they seek a finish to their attacking play. Having now coached at every level bar the full Test one, Chalmers has sympathy for his former rival and team-mate Townsend, and believes he has been wrongly blamed for Scotland’s lack of tries.

“Gregor and Andy work hard with the players but the real work is done in clubs, week in, week out. You come to Scotland sessions to fine-tune moves and work on the game-plan for whoever you’re playing against, not on passing and catching.

“Attacking is the hardest part of the game now because defence is so well organised, but the basic skill levels of players in the other nations seem to be higher. I know that a lot of guys in Scotland think they can pass, but don’t practise enough.

“Players in general think they can do the basics well, and then get surprised when they don’t hold up under pressure in international rugby. I grew up with guys who practised day and night, and so to have a chance of playing at club and district level never mind for Scotland everyone had to. But to be a good international player you have to practise again and again and again.

“It’s that work ethic that you see in guys like Jonny Wilkinson, Dan Carter and Chris Paterson. Chris was not a natural goal-kicker but he made himself the best in the world because he practised week after week, month after month, year after year. There’s no shortcut.

“We have guys at all levels of the game who think their skills are good and now don’t need much practise, or just don’t make the time to practise enough And that’s what’s letting us down at crucial moments in games. There’s nothing a coach can do about those basics with a few days’ training before a Test match.”

Much is also being made of composure stopping Scotland claiming victory, but composure comes from confidence in one’s ability and experience of executing successfully. In that regard, then, it is perhaps less of a risk picking a player like Hogg, and Scott, who have superior basic skills to some more experienced players. It is merely a question of when the coaches take the chance with youth.

It will continue today with Hogg following Denton and Lee Jones into the new ranks of Six Nations starters in one of few anticipated changes to the team that lost in Wales, with the hope that it begins to uncover the finishing skills Scotland dearly seek.

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jb

Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 11:27 PM

As I said, if they are good enough, they are old enough. #3-someone like Hogg has the self belief to run at Wales and make more yards than the rest of the Scottish backs put together. He seems to naturally run aggressive and dangerous angles where Morrison and Lamont just try to run through the opposition. The ABs score their back line tries when someone hits the line at an angle contrary to what the opposition expects. Hogg does the same, and I for one hope that Townsend doesn't coach it out of him, the way he seems to have done with all the other backs. #8, what a back line that would be. Unfortunately in Scotland they would all be seen as too young and will never be given the chance. These guys are gasping to play for their country, let them

Six Nations: Craig Chalmers backing Stuart Hogg to spark Scots

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