Six Nations special: Left behind by resurgent Irish in a role reversal

Published on Tuesday 27 January 2009 22:35

TEN YEARS SINCE THE TITLE PART 3: OVERTAKEN BY IRELAND - AND LEFT FAR BEHIND

SCOTLAND and Ireland played each other a dozen times between 1989 and 1999, including one match in the second Rugby World Cup. Scotland won 11 and the other was a draw.

Since the Six Nations Championship began in 2000, the countries have met on nine occasions. Ireland have won eight times, with Scotland's only victory having come in 2001, when the tournament could not be completed until the autumn.

It is a remarkable reversal of fortunes in the fixture, and the best statistical illustration of the Scots' slow decline since they won the last Five Nations. In the last few decades of the 20th century England, France and Wales were often too strong, and the depth of talent from which their coaches could select a team often contrasted starkly with the options available to the Scottish selectors. But many a season was salvaged by a win against the Irish.

It is therefore worth asking why, since 2000, that turnaround has occurred. To what extent is it due to Ireland making progress, and to what extent can it be ascribed to Scottish failings?

The story really begins in the early 1990s, when the divergent fortunes of the countries had produced a contrasting outlook. Scotland won the Grand Slam in 1990, and reached the semi- finals of the World Cup the following year: Ireland, on the other hand, had done nothing special in the Five Nations, and had been traumatised by a 1992 tour to New Zealand, including a 59-6 humbling by the hosts in the second Test of the series.

In the wake of that event, the IRFU set up a foundation designed to nurture the best talent in the under-19 age group. The positive impact from that act is still being felt today, with many of the key members of the Irish national side having come through that system.

Age-group rugby received significant funding in Ireland. The SRU invested in it, too, but crucially, millions were diverted into the renovation of Murrayfield, whereas Lansdowne Road was left untouched.

That financial disparity also had an impact at the level below the international game. Strapped for funds, Scotland went from four professional teams to two, back to three, then back to two again. Ireland stuck with their four provinces throughout.

The growing success of the Irish model saw Ulster win the Heineken Cup in 1999 and Munster become runners-up twice in the following three years, and some in Scotland believed that demonstrated the wisdom of the SRU's decision to have its own centrally controlled teams rather than club sides in European competition. But the Irish provinces were long established and they were beginning to attract large crowds: the Borders, Caledonia, Edinburgh and Glasgow could not claim that.

It was thus for a combination of reasons that, by the turn of the century, Ireland had surpassed Scotland. That much became painfully apparent on the opening weekend of the 2002 Six Nations Championship, when a miserable showing at home to England saw the Scots lose 29-3, while across in Dublin, Ireland were crushing Wales 54-10.

Irish limitations were on show in the next round of fixtures when they lost heavily at Twickenham, but then they beat Scotland 43-22 – just a point shy of the score two years earlier. A win over Italy, then another heavy defeat – by France – meant Ireland finished third. That was just two points above Scotland, who had ended their own campaign with a home defeat by France before a morale-boosting victory in Wales.

The latter result meant that for the third Six Nations season in a row Scotland had signed off with a win, and that gave Ian McGeechan some breathing space. The national coach had still not produced a side capable of lasting progress, but, with the 2003 World Cup coming up, he was always going to get a crack at another Six Nations.

England won the Grand Slam in 2003, and went on to become the first and, so far, only Northern Hemisphere country to win the World Cup. They clinched the championship in style with a 42-6 triumph in Dublin, but the scale of that defeat could not disguise the fact that Ireland had again made significant progress over the season.

In fact, they had won their previous four matches in that 2003 Six Nations season, beginning with a comfortable 36-6 win at Murrayfield. Blunt and undynamic, Scotland were finding it increasingly difficult to create try-scoring opportunities, as they showed in their next game, a 38-3 defeat in Paris.

They did manage to cross the line three times en route to beating the Welsh, but then failed to do so once in what was becoming the routine heavy loss at Twickenham. Again the season ended with a win, but the 33-25 victory over Italy was unconvincing, and this time no-one with any grasp of reality regarded it as a sign that the corner had been turned.

Later that year, Scotland would scrape through to the last eight of the World Cup thanks to a late score by Tom Smith against Fiji, but by then the need for new blood had been acknowledged by Murrayfield. McGeechan was moving upstairs to become director of rugby in succession to Jim Telfer, who had chosen to retire, and the Australian Matt Williams was bringing fresh ideas to the post of national coach.

There had been a growing disillusionment with McGeechan among the Scotland support, and change had been overdue. But the gradual, irresistible rise of Ireland, having, as it did, its origins a decade earlier, was proof that lasting improvement could not be effected by changing the national coach alone. Indeed, Scots were soon to learn that changing the national coach does not necessarily bring about any improvement, enduring or even ephemeral.

We had no answer to improvement by Irish, but now there is light at the end of the tunnel

Former Scotland head coach Jim Telfer is optimistic about the Six Nations

WE SAW Ireland coming as we moved into the 21st century, but we struggled to find the answers to deal with them.

Ireland won the under-19 world championship in 1999, with Declan Kidney the coach, and a list of players – Brian O'Driscoll, Ronan O'Gara, Peter Stringer, Shane Horgan, John Hayes, David Wallace, Simon Easterby and Geordan Murphy – all stepping up to Test rugby in 1999-2000. Those players have become the backbone of the Irish team over the past ten years, and in 2002-2003 they were starting to show what they could do.

We still had a strong team with the experience of Glenn Metcalfe, John Leslie, Kenny Logan, Gregor Townsend, Bryan Redpath and Andy Nicol with Chris Paterson coming through, and a pack including Tom Smith, Gordon Bulloch, Scott Murray, Stuart Grimes, Martin Leslie and Budge Pountney, with Jason White and Simon Taylor emerging.

England also had a strong squad at this time as they built towards their 2003 World Cup success, and France were certainly no slouches. That highlighted one of the key problems we had at the time – finding quality competition for our home-based players. Outside the Heineken Cup, we had that strange Scottish-Welsh League where the boys were up and down the M6 every second week in buses, or playing games against each other.

I've never seen a man work as hard in my life as Bill Watson (former SRU chief executive] did to create a new competition. He was the driving force behind what we now call the Magners League, in the office from 7am to 10pm most days, drawing it up, and off to Wales and Ireland time and again trying to persuade them to accept it.

There was a lot of animosity towards myself and the SRU at that time. Although we'd won widespread support inside and outside the union for the district teams, many still refused to support them and that made building them into strong entities very difficult.

The SRU was also struggling with the financial burdens of professional rugby, and although five accountants on the SRU's executive board at that time were in favour of going back to three teams in 2002, we knew it would be tough. We do need at least three teams because we have too small a playing base with two to create successful international squads – we talk of depth now, but injuries in some positions and we will struggle again this year.

The Irish went with their four provinces as well, but their union had more money and stuck with them, and when Ulster won the Heineken Cup in 1999 and Munster reached the final in 2000, they unearthed a whole new level of support and investment, coinciding with the new talent coming through.

We weren't far behind at the turn of the century. They were attracting crowds of under 1,000 in 1998, we had over 5,000 at some European games; Edinburgh only lost to Ulster in their pool decider in 2000 due to a late try at Myreside. In 2001, we comprehensively beat Ireland at Murrayfield.

But the picture changed as Ireland moved on with a tight focus on developing that new generation of players in Ireland, paying to keep them or bring stars back, and using the Heineken Cup and national camps to make them stronger. International success can come down to a group of strong, quality players emerging at the same time, and while we had a good group and beat them 12 times on the trot from the 1980s to 2000, they have enjoyed a purple patch since, crucially at a vital time for developing the professional teams.

When I retired from the SRU after the 2003 World Cup, I remember feeling worried about the future. We had appointed a new coach, Matt Williams, to bring fresh ideas, but I felt there were huge chasms between where I and others in Scotland thought we could go. I knew I was right to walk away then.

I believe it has taken until now for people in Scotland to realise that professional rugby is different to club rugby, that the two must work together but play different roles in developing the game and players. But with the realisation that the professional teams hold the key to us competing on the world stage, and support coming from the clubs and wider rugby community, I believe we are finally starting to see some light.

The results in Europe this season were a step forward and competition for Scotland places is improving. I am quite optimistic that we can enjoy a better Six Nations this year.

Laney regrets haste with which he was made a kilted Kiwi

DAVID FERGUSON

BRENDAN Laney insists he has only good memories of the RBS Six Nations Championship. Now busy running his own sports clothing business in Christchurch, in his native New Zealand, the garrulous Kiwi maintains the passage of time has helped rekindle the great moments of wearing a Scotland jersey, while making the unhappier times fade.

Laney's arrival in Scottish rugby in 2001 caused a furore. The then 28-year-old flew in from New Zealand on the Thursday, fronted a press conference for his new club Edinburgh that afternoon, had Friday to settle his partner into a new flat – and was then pulled into a Scotland squad camp ahead of the international with Argentina that Sunday.

He was left out of the Test 22, but was selected on the Monday at full-back for Scotland A and faced New Zealand in Perth on the Wednesday, before being thrown in for a full Test debut against the All Blacks three days later.

"It wasn't right and I shouldn't have played," he says, no trace of doubt in his voice.

"Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but my arrival just wasn't handled well and I don't think Scottish coaches would make that mistake again. Maybe I should have been firmer and refused to play – that went through my mind – but you've just arrived in a new country, the national coach is telling you what he wants of you, and you go with the flow, I think.

"I really felt for Derrick Lee. He was the Scotland full-back and though the team lost to Argentina that weekend, he'd played outstandingly. The next minute he's dropped, and I'm in. I didn't feel good about that at all.

"I should have played a few games with Edinburgh first, but I had grown up trying to be like Gavin Hastings, and suddenly I was given a chance to emulate him, play international rugby against New Zealand. How do you turn that down?"

It was an error of judgment by Ian McGeechan, the coach at the time, which pointed to a desperation to improve his squad. It also served to dampen enthusiasm for augmenting Scotland's relative paucity of playing resources with Scottish-qualified talent from around the world.

Laney's first championship remains memorable, however. His 24 points against Italy secured a first win in Rome, set a Scottish scoring record for a Six Nations match, and earned him a man-of-the-match award. And 14 points from his boot were crucial in beating Wales in Cardiff.

After contributing 39 points in the autumn Test wins over Romania, South Africa and Fiji – where he equalled Hastings' record in reaching 100 points in nine Tests – injury and a move to stand-off led to a dip in form and the fading out of his Test career. Reflecting on that era in Scottish rugby, Laney – who qualified for Scotland through a grandmother born in Glasgow – said: "It was a period of transition. Everyone wanted to get back that 1999 form, but the team kept changing. Players left, others were injured and between the World Cups the coaches couldn't settle on a team.

"I played at full-back, wing, centre and stand-off, and stand-off was becoming a big problem. Gordon Ross did well and I thought they should have stuck with him.

"We had the Chris Paterson experiment that never worked. He's an outstanding rugby player, but you need time to develop and master that position, and the poor bugger was never given it. He was played all over the shop.

"Ian McGeechan is a very innovative coach, and he and Jim Telfer were working to push the team on. But maybe without the calibre of player or the time they needed to do that successfully."

Laney added: "I had a fantastic time in Scotland. It was tough at first, but the people were great, and when I look back now and remember playing in front of nearly 70,000 people at Murrayfield, and doing it again the next week in Paris, Cardiff, Rome or Dublin it was just a fantastic experience.

"I'll be watching this Six Nations in the wee small hours (in New Zealand] and hope Scotland give them all hell. We have a team now that I think could do something – if it sticks together."

Eight years since the last win over Ireland

Five Nations Championship

1999: Scotland 30 Ireland 13

Scott Murray crosses the line twice as Scotland triumph.

Six Nations Championship

2000: Ireland 44 Scotland 22

Ireland get revenge with five converted tries.

2001: Scotland 32 Ireland 10

Andrew Henderson scores a try on his Test debut.

2002: Ireland 43 Scotland 22

Brian O'Driscoll helps himself to a hat-trick.

2003: Scotland 6 Ireland 36

A crushing defeat at home as Ireland lift the Century Quaich.

2004: Ireland 37 Scotland 16

A try by debutant Simon Webster is little consolation.

2005: Scotland 13 Ireland 40

Duffy, Hayes, Hickie, O'Connell and O'Kelly all cross the line for Ireland.

2006: Ireland 15 Scotland 9

Closer score but another loss.

2007: Scotland 18 Ireland 19

Two quick O'Gara penalties seal another Irish win.

2008: Ireland 34 Scotland 13

A different venue – Croke Park – but the usual outcome.