Stuart Bathgate: Andy Robinson’s starter for ten has no easy answer
Dan Parks made errors against England. Picture: Jane Barlow
Scotland’s half-back selection could be a defining moment for Andy Robinson
THE choice Andy Robinson must make in one position for his team to play Wales may not only shape Scotland’s season. It could also in time define his reign as Scotland coach.
The position in question, of course, is stand-off. The wearer of the No 10 jersey always has a pivotal position on the rugby field, but this time the significance of Robinson’s choice looks likely to extend well beyond Sunday’s game in the Millennium Stadium.
The choice itself should be straightforward. Greig Laidlaw did well enough against England – and Dan Parks did badly enough – to ensure that.
But it is how Laidlaw plays, if selected, that really matters. Will he spark the Scotland attack into life, as he promised to do in the 13-6 defeat by England, or will his inexperience at this level, and in this position, be exposed?
If the former, win or lose at the weekend, Scotland should at least provide some grounds for optimism, and proof that Robinson is making progress. If the latter, a feeling of despondency will grow in Scottish rugby, leaving the incumbent facing a steep uphill battle to convince a sceptical public that he still has enough to offer to merit staying on as national coach.
And then there is the matter of Laidlaw’s deputy. When he finalises the team to play Wales, to be announced tomorrow at Murrayfield, will Robinson be doubly bold and opt for Duncan Weir, or will he hedge his bets and name Parks among the replacements? That choice is not so clear-cut, but could become just as crucial if, with time running out, the match is there to be won and fresh legs are needed at fly-half.
Let’s start with the initial question: who to start with. If Robinson needs to re-examine any evidence before reaching a verdict, he will find it in the DVD of Sunday’s game.
Laidlaw came closer to scoring a try than any other Scot in more than 300 minutes of international action, being denied only by the television match official after appearing to get a hand to the ball from his own chip ahead. He also made the back line sharper and slicker, doing enough in his 23 minutes on the field to answer an apparent doubt about him raised by Robinson last week.
“Greig is a nine adapting to a new position,” the coach said last Wednesday.
“We want to introduce him as a ten at the right time against England.”
The former scrum-half showed he has adapted quite well to that new position, but he undoubtedly benefited from coming off the bench at the same time as his regular club half-back partner Mike Blair. Robinson will need to decide whether a change at No 10 necessitates a change at No 9, or whether Chris Cusiter should again begin at scrum-half. And he will also have to decide whether Laidlaw would have made half as good an impression had he played the whole match against England, rather than being introduced when there was no option but to be adventurous.
What that really means is that Robinson must decide whether, as a coach, he has any option but to be adventurous. He has been accused, at times with some justification, of being too conservative. But he knows that this time the selection of Parks may be the most risky thing he could do.
At the top of his game, in wet weather when kicking from hand can determine the outcome of a match, Parks has been valuable to Scotland. But he has not been at the top of his game recently, and on Saturday the rain cleared not long before kick-off, leaving conditions a little slippery underfoot but still amenable to running rugby.
And Parks’s style is not amenable to running rugby. His movement is too ponderous, his option-taking too predictable.
If rugby had special teams as in American football you could bring him on for punted clearances, an aspect of the game at which – on his day – he has few equals. Or if Scotland had serious hopes of building a big lead over Wales, and thought they might need to kill the game late on with some judicious kicking from hand, Parks might just be worth a place on the bench.
But hopes of even building a slender lead cannot be high right now. Not after Saturday. If Scotland are to win in Cardiff, they will surely have to fight for the result every inch of the way, every minute of the 80.
Which means that, rather than having the option of taking the sting out of the game, Robinson should look for substitutes who can raise the intensity when some of the starting XV are running low on energy. And that should mean a place for Glasgow’s Weir, the man of the match in Scotland A’s stunning 35-0 victory over England Saxons at Netherdale on Friday night.
Weir has no caps: Parks has 67. Invariably, when confidence is low and self-belief has to be restored, you would opt for a more experienced player over an unproven one. But Parks is part of the reason why confidence is low and, at 33, he is not about to reveal a hitherto undiscovered vivacity in his game.
That does not mean that Robinson should discard Parks and order him never to darken Murrayfield’s door again. Thousands of us, in moments of frustration, have decreed that the stand-off should be pensioned off, but there is no point yet in Robinson saying never again. He does not have the resources which would allow him that luxury.
Having said that, the return to fitness of Ruaridh Jackson should soon render Parks’s recall all the less necessary. Jackson is expected to play for Glasgow against the Scarlets on Thursday, and although Sunday’s international will be too soon for him, he will be in the running for the 22 to play France a fortnight later.
With Jackson, Weir and Laidlaw all fit, Robinson will have a real conundrum to address in selection. With Laidlaw, Weir and Parks to choose from, selecting two from three should not be so difficult.
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Comments
There are 21 comments to this article
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Little Dick
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 08:05 PMJackson is one of the most overated rugby players in Scotland. billed as an attacking Stand Off he offers nothing whatsoever to justify being in a Scotland squad....not even first choice at Warriors
The Lord
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 02:58 PMYOU HEARD IT FROM THE LORD!!!!! WATCH THE NEWS THIS EVENING. DAN PARKS TO RETIRE FROM INTERNATIONAL RUGBY
The Lord
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 01:24 PM#16 Agree entirely. Was Saturday not the "wooden spoon" decider??????????? Time, I know, will tell. But England were terrible. In fact, and despite their potential, I can honestly say that that is the worst English team performance I have seen in 49 years attending Mfield.
leemagee
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 12:46 PMOn a separate issue, George Clancy was absolutely useless on Saturday: the try was 50 50 so I have no issue with that. The fact he 'forgot' forgot about the advantage is unforgivable at this level...although Ross Ford showed absolute ineptitude as captain by not confronting Clancy at the time. There was nothing wrong with cusiter's pass to parks leading to the try; the problem was that parks stood outside the breakdown instead of behind it, and then, on receiving the ball, had to turn towards the touch line and then take a step to kick; all basic stuff that club players wouldn't do! After the try Scotland were awarded the penalty and parks missed his kick to touch...well he didn't miss it!! The assistant referee clearly raises his flag but you hear Clancy tell 'play on'. Well if the ball crosses the plane of touch from a penalty kick and then drifts infield it doesn't matter, it is still out! Basic stuff from an international ref. He yelled 3 times for the England number 8 to release the ball which he duly did...if you have to yell more than once then they have already slowed the ball down and the penalty needs to be given. When Rennie screwed up by delaying the pass it should also have been a penalty because Foden intentionally knocked it down. Finally, from a kick, an English player knocked it on and another English player caught it, Clancy gave us a scrum...it should have been a penalty for accidental offside. Clancy was only another part of the problem...the Scottish backs still need to work on basic skills and other players deserve their chance.
leemagee
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 12:28 PMThis is the problem: people write that because Parks didn't drop balls, didn't miss tackles, didn't crab and only kicked aimlessly from hand a few times that he didn't have a bad game!! This is international rugby for goodness sake!! Unfortunately we've become accustomed to mediocrity and what would be deemed a horrific performance by most international coaches is deemed good enough by several Scotland coaches to warrant 67 caps!! Parks is not the only problem but he is a massive part of the issue. Parks and Townsend both need booted out and the young upstarts for the Scotland A team need AND DESERVE their chance! Come on Robinson; you know what needs to be done...1 million Scottish fans can't be wrong!
Sevendirtywords
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 12:27 PMHe needs to be adventurous. Had we fielded Laidlaw, Weir, Scott, Hogg, Harley, etc in addtion to Jones and Denton and lost Andy would have picked up much much less flak than he has in the last 48 hours. We'd have seen it as building for the future. He can still do this in the remainder of the 6N and I would like to see all of the above getting some gametime in the competition. We then consolidate this in the summer tour with caps for the likes of Visser, Ryan Grant, McInally, Gilchrist, MacArthur, etc. and 2012 AIs and 2013 6N becomes the real proving ground ............... as it is Robinson has set himself up to be judged on 2012 6N results alone and may end up paying the price if we end up in another wooden soon battle with Italy.
artydodger
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 11:55 AMIts a very easy answer actually, esp now....depart from out typical Scottish parochial view on such matters & pick on form & ability & not experienceage & size....that's why Edin & A team have been so successful & full team & age groups have not! And yes, dump GT....this is where sucessful coaching exp 'is' part of the CV!
Sevendirtywords
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 11:25 AM#12 - I'm not having a laugh. I can assure you that Mr Parks was on the receving end of all of my seven dirty words on Saturday evening but I have since rewatched the game. He certainly didn't have a stellar game (has he ever?) but he didn't actually make that many errors, others were complicit in the chargedown and other than a couple of poor kicks from hand he didn't kick away possession, miss tackles, miss passes, crab sideways, etc. As I said, he was the wrong choice but he wasn't the reason we lost - there are a number of other players who did basic things badly in their 22 causing us to butcher multiple scoring opportunities.
stellarbluesky
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 11:04 AMNot a mention anywhere of our 'attack' coach. Is GT somehow fireproof? Whoever is coaching the forwards is doing a good job - they won enough ball to win several games. Can't believe Robinson - a great flanker - hasn't been infuential there. As a forward putting my body on the line, I'd be spitting feathers if backs were throwing away hard-won chances as they do - over and over and over again. Every day the backs turn up for work at Murrayfield and see GT standing there with the same old same old advice, their hearts must sink. They know, he knows, we all know that every coach has a shelf life - even in good times. Times are not good, Gregor. As a matter of professional pride, you should consider your position
The Lord
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 10:59 AM#8 you are having a laugh surely. I suffered it as well last evening on TV. Dan Parks was woeful and the worst player on the pitch by far. I was fortunate to be in the evening reception afterwards and to see 8 English lads receive their first caps was quite emotional and I actually felt proud for them and their families but as a proud scotsman highly embarassed that over 50% of the English fielded players were gaining their first caps and they beat us. This Scotland team is going nowhere until Parks is removed although I do see that Madonna has been signed up for Murrayfield - does she play 10??? After all she's "played" every other position!!!!!!!
Sevendirtywords
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 10:26 AM#9 - you're wrong about Cusiter. He didn't have a terrible game. When the forwards got the ball quickly he secured quick ball to his backs, when they didn't the game plan was obviously to take time and set up. He also made a number of good breaks, albeit there were a handful of errors as well (not least the shocking pass that led up to the chargedown). Cusiter is not yet 30, has been in fine form this season and is arguably our best scrum half, it would be wrong to discard him after a performance that was no worse than mixed.
Sevendirtywords
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 10:22 AMJust to add to my previous comment. In the match it was noticable that Parks played much flatter than usual, made a few breaks and made some tackles - not the turnstile in defence we normally expect. He generally provided a reasonable pass to the next man. The problem was that the next man generally made the wrong decision - mismatch with Hodgson on, make a pass - numbers wide, bosh up the middle. Possibly a little to much playing by numbers rather than looking at what's in front of you. The reason that Laidlaw was and is a better choice is that he is a very natural Rugby player and plays with his head up, is willing to depart from the script and, as a result, gets his back line moving .................... Equally important to the change at 10 we also need a change at 12. Morrison not the answer, Matt Scott is the player we need ........................ Sean Lamont needs to move back to the wing where he belongs, and as a result one of EvansJones drops to the bench, not least because the Welsh have to f***ing huge wingers in North and Cuthbert.
I Caurnie
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 10:18 AMLaidlaws performance for Edinburgh should be enough to convince AR that Parks no longeer needs to be considered for Test sides. Mike Blair is also streets ahead of Cusiter who should also be consigned to the retired bench.
Sevendirtywords
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 10:15 AMHaving rewatched the game (yes I'm a masochist!) a couple of thoughts. 1) Parks didn't actually have that bad a game!!!!!!! Yes he had the charge down - for which there should be shared culpability due to the poor decision to drive from the kick-off, getting nowhere, then throw a slow, inaccurate, head high pass to an unsupported player 5m out. A couple of his kicks from hand were poor YET we still dominated territory and possession. 2) If you look at where our moves broke down it was rarely down to Parks. Biggest culprit was Sean Lamont closely followed by a series of butter fingered forwards ................... Don't get me wrong. Parks was the wrong choice for this game and he would be the wrong choice against Wales but he didn't cost us the game this time ............. I also have some (but only a little) sympathy for Robinson who has taken stick principally on the basis of picking Parks, however, even though I didn't agree with it, there was a logic to it.
salad cream or mayo?
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 09:31 AMThe selection of Parks is, almost single handedly, destroying Scottish rugby. This is Robinson's fault. Who wil ever pay money to watch a Scotland team with him in it? 6, you are entirely right. We are not building for the future, our pack has improved but our backs have been dreadful since the Townsend, Tait, Leslie, Metcalfe era. Give the boys with flair and pace a chance.
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