Robinson hopes to find perfect blend

THESE days head coaches can feel more like head chefs. When it comes to major tournaments, their squads tend to be accused of being either overcooked or underdone. The victorious coach may be awarded a metaphorical Michelin star to go with the trophy but the rest, it seems, never quite got their preparation right.

Finding a winning blend is always a question of balance, of course. When it comes to gym work, for instance, there is a compromise to be reached between putting on extra pounds, as Scotland did for the 2007 Rugby World Cup, and maintaining as much speed as possible.

Warm-up schedules are even more delicate matters. Do you arrange just a couple of matches and hope your team will be fresh enough – but not too raw – when it comes to the real thing? Or do you give them more game time in the hope they find some consistency and form to take into the tournament?

If it were an exact science, every team would do the same thing, there would not be the disparity which has become apparent between some of the Six Nations Championship teams as they prepare for this year’s World Cup. The most glaring difference, from a Scottish perspective, was that between our own squad and Ireland. Andy Robinson decided that two games would suffice, against the Irish and the Italians, whereas Declan Kidney wanted his Ireland team to play five times.

Kidney’s planning appeared more astute to many when the matches were announced, but did not look so smart after the games themselves, with Ireland losing their four Tests and managing a win only against Connacht.

For his part, after beating both Ireland and Italy at Murrayfield, Robinson is convinced he has struck an intelligent balance. After just those 160 minutes, his team may not be at their absolute peak for their opening game against Romania but, in a long and gruelling competition, you do not want to be at your best too soon.

“We want the boys to be full of running going into the game,” Robinson said yesterday from Scotland’s training camp on the east coast of Australia. “That’s what you want. They have not had a lot of game time, but that was a conscious decision.

“We did a lot of team preparation for the two warm-up matches. The first days of summer training were individual work and the middle days were team work – that’s what you saw in those two games. What we’ll be doing over the next week is working on more team work, and the attacking and defending plans for Romania.”

Although he is expected to alter his team gradually between that first match and the next one against Georgia, then again before the crunch against Argentina, Robinson is not ruling out using all the same players in the first two games at least.

“If we need to, all 15 who start against Romania should be able to play against Georgia. But we’ll make that decision after the Romania game.

“I know what the team for that game is. I’ll name it next Thursday. We know the players. We’ve brought a squad of 30, and the key is deciding on the 22 to play against Romania. There’s a five-day turnaround from that match until the Georgia match so it’s about managing the squad.

“The players are desperate to play for Scotland, which is what you want. All 30 are desperate to put their hands up, desperate to play for Scotland, and that’s a great situation to be in. The big thing for me is we go to enjoy it, and immerse ourselves in it, but when on the field we are really focused on beating the opposition.”

At this stage, with the countdown to the tournament having entered single digits, an important task for the coaching team is to minimise the amount of energy lost due to nervous excitement. After economising on the team’s exertions in the warm-up period, Robinson is aware that his good work could be undone if his players are exposed too soon to the magnitude of the competition in rugby-mad New Zealand.

“I think training in Australia helps us to understand that we’re not yet at the World Cup,” he said. “We’re sheltered a little from that. We’re going in on Wednesday, and I think it’s right for us to come in at that time in order to beat Romania.”

l Former Scotland strength and conditioning coach Mark Bitcon has been appointed performance manager to the England rugby league team as they prepare for the forthcoming Gillette Four Nations Series. Bitcon oversaw Scotland’s build-up programme for the last Rugby World Cup four years ago, and is credited with ensuring the squad were at their physical peak for that tournament.

Bitcon left Scotland for Gloucester in 2008. The following year he moved to rugby league to become Wigan’s head of sports science, a full-time role which he will be able to keep despite his involvement with England.