Andy Robinson: We will rise to challenge of England

SCOTLAND will seek to draw inspiration from the way they bounced back from defeat to the All Blacks last year to claim a great win over South Africa as they turn their focus to England at Eden Park on Saturday.

The squad flew north from Wellington to Auckland yesterday and squad captain Al Kellock and Rory Lawson, the scrum-half who led the side in the 13-12 defeat to Argentina on Sunday, spoke of the commitment in the squad to recover from the shock at losing a match which they felt was in their own hands.

The players are determined to take their disappointment out on their oldest foe after coach Andy Robinson admitted that he, his staff, and the senior squad members had been working hard to lift spirits.

The Englishman added that he was encouraged that the team’s arrival in Auckland had helped to turn their focus away from Argentina and on to England.

Robinson said: “We had 24 hours to get rid of our frustrations and emotions with guys doing it in different ways.

“You know how inward I can get sometimes and it’s important to go there because the guys put a lot into that match and it was disappointing to lose the game, particularly in the manner that we did. We have done that and now it’s the first day to focus on England and there is a vibrancy about the team. Everyone knows it’s still within our control and we have to go out and put in a top performance against England.

“This is a one-off game and that is how we must treat it. We have reached high levels in terms of emotions the two times I have been involved in games with England – and also physically.

“This is as tough as playing Argentina in terms of the forwards. With the skills levels of their backs it’s going to be a tough day for us and we have to be at our very best to get a win.

“But just look what happened after we played the All Blacks last year when we were pretty heavily beaten and the following week we beat South Africa [21-17] with a comprehensive performance from everyone and I have total trust in the whole squad that they are mentally and physically able to rise to the challenge.”

Scrum-half Mike Blair, who is again likely to be on the bench on Saturday, started against New Zealand in the autumn Test that ended in a sobering 49-3 loss, but suffered an injury and Lawson took over for the Springboks Test. Blair remembers it well, however, and agreed with Robinson that it provides inspiration for the squad.

“Everyone had to raise their game after the All Blacks defeat,” he said, “and this game coming is a similar situation. For a Scotland v England game at Murrayfield you feed off the crowd more and it will be fantastic to see what happens at a neutral venue.”

Robinson will discuss with the team leaders the various permutations of results and scores which could yet see Scotland qualify for the quarter-finals. A victory by eight points would be enough so long as Argentina – who have lost Juan Fernandez Lobbe for the tournament with a serious knee injury – score four tries and beat Georgia on Sunday. The only way Scotland can ensure they qualify outright on Saturday would be by winning with a four-try haul, something Scottish teams have achieved on seven previous occasions against England but only once, in the 1971 Centenary Match, since the Second World War. The more likely target for the Scots to aim for is an eight-point vcitory margin but, when asked if he was less interested in tries, Robinson was quick to state that tries remained uppermost in the squad’s mind.

“As a leadership group we will talk through various scenarios in terms of the match score and what we need to do so the guys will know what decisions need to be made.

“We go out to win games by scoring tries not to just kick penalties and drop goals. The first thing is to win the game and the guys have worked really hard and are in a good position fitness-wise, and we will also take heart from what Ireland did to England at the end of the Six Nations [Ireland won 24-8], the way Wales played in the warm-up match in Cardiff [Wales won 19-9] and also the way we performed against them at Twickenham [England won 22-16].

“England are a good side, contrary to what people write about them. They are a quality team and won the Six Nations. They have a good blend with a forward pack that can win ball and have conceded just one try in the tournament and are well organised. We have to deal with the six-day turnaround and it’s now about getting everybody fully loaded for what is going to be a cracking Test match.”