Scotland v Samoa: Isolated glory is no longer enough to warm Scotland

Published on Friday 26 November 2010 19:56

AS SCOTTISH football tears itself apart over the never-ending row over the treatment of referees at least one SPL stadium will see the man in the middle treated with the utmost respect this afternoon.

• Captain Rory Lawson (left) and Mike Blair during train at Pittodrie Stadium in Aberdeen yesterday. Despite the venue providing a wintry scene, below, the SRU is confident that today's match against Samoa will go ahead in front of over 19,000 spectators. Pictures: Lynne Cameron/PA

AS SCOTTISH football tears itself apart over the never-ending row over the treatment of referees at least one SPL stadium will see the man in the middle treated with the utmost respect this afternoon. The Scottish Rugby Union takes international rugby on the road today with a fixture against Samoa at Pittodrie Stadium, home of Aberdeen FC, and while it is true that a referee has been flown in for the occasion any similarities with football end right there. Mr Steve Walsh from New Zealand should have no more to worry about than applying the laws of the game correctly as a crowd in excess of 19,000 hope to see Scotland record back-to-back victories following last weekend's great win over South Africa.

Coaching a Scotland team to victory when the backs are to the wall and a dose of humiliation has been injected into the heart is invariably one of the lesser demands of a national coach in this part of the woods, but Andy Robinson is acutely aware that he faces that stiffer challenge this afternoon of creating winners from winners in Scotland's final EMC Autumn Test match of 2010.

More: the final Autumn test

• World Cup classic that put Samoa on map

• Allan Massie: Victory rather than tries should be No 1 priority at Pittodrie to ensure Scotland don't lose grip of winning habit

• How they line up

• Past encounters

The nation last week moved up to sixth position in the IRB world rankings, but even if they win at Pittodrie this afternoon - the SRU is very confident the game will go ahead despite heavy snow in Aberdeen yesterday - they are likely to fall back to seventh at the close of the weekend. The points gap between them and Samoa in 11th is such that Robinson's side cannot improve on their tally today, whereas the winner of Ireland and Argentina in Dublin tomorrow will gain points and move back above Scotland.

However, Robinson was quick to make clear yesterday just how much this game matters in terms of altering a common meandering path through the last decade of rugby history in Scotland. He and his fellow coaches and players are on the trail of consistency, the holy grail of Scottish rugby in its elusiveness.

They are certainly on a firmer footing having proven they could back-up wins from the end of the Six Nations in June, where they recorded three on the trot. In fact, Robinson's army are today targeting their fifth win in six internationals, a run last enjoyed eight years ago, when Ian McGeechan was in charge and Scotland defeated Wales at the end of the 2002 RBS Six Nations, lost to Canada and beat the USA on tour, and then claimed a clean sweep in the autumn against Romania, South Africa and Fiji.

There has been no autumn domination this time with the All Blacks the first visitors, but with Australia, Ireland, Argentina (twice) and South Africa the names on the current winning tally there is a greater sense of promise.Now it requires a strengthening mentality, one that does not need humiliation, embarrassment or the proverbial kick up the backside to produce the desired result.

Asked how important he viewed following victory with another, Robinson said: "That's what we're here for. It's why you're involved. I've said on many occasions that Scotland have had some outstanding victories over the last ten years but they have been isolated victories, and international rugby is about getting the back-to-back victories, so that's what this weekend is about. There's a lot for us to play for.

"What that (Scotland's rollercoaster record] shows is that every game that you play you have to be at your very best and you can't taken anything for granted. You have to get rid of the performance you've just had in order to perform. You restart the game. We're not playing South Africa, we're not four points in the lead, we're not at Murrayfield, we have a different referee and have to be able to handle him; we have a different team we're playing against and so have to start again in the build-up to your performance. Each individual has to take care of his own performance and then collectively as a team we'll put that together.

"That's why international rugby is so good. If physically you're not up to the challenge you'll get beat. If you're just off a little bit, and think 'ooh, I don't fancy going down on that ball' or 'I just don't want to get in position to make that tackle' you'll get beat. That's why the level of physicality is important and being able to put your body on the line each time we play is a key requisite for winning international rugby matches.

"Defensively last week we were at our very best and I thought it was one of the best defensive performances from a Scotland team, with the urgency to get round the corner and go forward, and what was that based on? It was based on the embarrassment of the week before. We've done it this week and now we've got to step it up on Saturday and that's the mentality and understanding of what Test rugby is all about."

The Samoan players enjoyed a captain's run on the green oasis of Pittodrie yesterday, the undersoil heating doing its job while the snow continued to fall, and while they did not hang about as the temperatures dropped again, their core mix of professionals based in England, France and New Zealand ensures they have to be expected to be ready for whatever Aberdeen throws at them.

Scotland have been pleased with the stat this week that they made no knock-ons when passing between themselves against South Africa last week, and know that the potential combination of cold, falling snow and a sandy pitch, and one narrower by more than three metres either side than Murrayfield and with a shorter in-goal area, will bring challenges.The Samoans are planning to play more through the forwards, with hooker and captain Mahonri Schwalger, locks Filipo Levi and Kane Thompson, and a solid back row, in which London Irish no8 George Stowers is one to watch, than they have on tour so far in response to the weather, but only until they establish platforms as a failure to use the talent they have wider out in players such Crusaders scrum-half Kahn Fotuali'i, Seilala Mapusua, the London Irish centre, and wings Alesani Tuilagi and David Lemi, in particular, would be inviting defeat.

"They are a good side," commented Robinson. "I've said to the team that they're in a similar position to we were in last week, coming off a loss. I caught up with the Samoans at the end of their training on Thursday and what I noticed was that they are quite a confident group. They have taken a lot of heart from the two games that they've had against England and Ireland. When you've played and lost you want to bring the strengths you had and get over that fine line between winning and losing. They have been in every game and done well, and they'll come here with a lot of belief that they can take us on.

"If they've done their homework they will have noticed that the wins that we've had have all been by small margins so they will know that if they can get into the game they can put us under pressure. Lemi, Tuilagi, Mapusua and (Paul] Williams (full-back] all score tries and are very dangerous one-on-one, because they have the ability to beat people.

"The scrum-half has done well for the Crusaders in the Super 14. He's a talented footballer and was very close to being involved with the All Blacks and a lot of these players would have gone through a similar process in their development.

"For the development and strength of rugby I'm delighted that these guys choose to play for Samoa because you don't want just ten teams pushing, but a really global game with a strong Samoa, strong Fiji, Georgia and sides like that coming through."

He also pinpointed their scrum as having shown great improvement, not unlike the progress made by Scotland in recent times, and expects another fiery battle in the set-piece, while the increased level of organisation in a side with so many experienced Premiership, Top 14 and Super 14 performers.

That is why he has underlined to his players throughout the week that they have to approach this final international expecting the same degree of challenge as they met from New Zealand in week one and South Africa in week two, which means the improvement in intensity in defence particularly but also the same eagerness to dominate up front and the breakdown, create platforms through hard-running momentum and take every point on offer. There has been plenty talk over the past year of Scotland playing to their strengths and as the team seeks that crucial follow-up win it would be foolish to move significantly away from the game-plan that worked at Murrayfield last week.Dan Parks, the stand-off, is now level with John Rutherford on the number of international drop-goals and has the chance to move out on his own and deflate the Samoans with regular three-pointers, but the team must still seek to improve their attacking threat with ball in hand too.

The players want to score tries, but recognise that winning the game comes first and Robinson believes he has a measure of how Scotland can do that, and avid a first defeat to these South Sea Islanders.

"For us it's about treating it as if we're playing against the number one team in the world, the world champions, full of respect and knowing that we've got to bring our number one game," he added.

"If you think back to four years ago I was involved in a game with Argentina against England and Argentina achieved their first victory so I understand the fine lines that are here with these games. You can't underestimate any team."