Six Nations: Blurring of boundaries adds intrigue to clash

IN ONE dressing room we have a Scotland coach who played for England. In the other, an England coach who played for Scotland. Whatever happens out on the pitch this evening, the identity of the two team leaders – Scotland’s Andy Robinson and England’s Stuart Lancaster – has already ensured that today’s Calcutta Cup match will be remembered as a unique occasion.

It would never have happened in the old days. Then – and for rugby the old days really only ended in 1995 with the advent of professionalism – there was a presumption that a coach would be of the same nationality as the team he took charge of.

Indeed, it was more than a presumption. Although there have never been eligibility laws for coaches, it was an unwritten rule that a coach should have played for his country – ideally at an exalted level, either as captain or as a senior figure. And before there were coaches, the national electors fitted the same bill. Venerated former internationals, or at a push long-serving committee members, but always of the same nationality as the team they were choosing.

In Scotland, Matt Williams changed all that in late 2003. The Australian became the first non-Scot to take charge of the national rugby team. Frank Hadden’s appointment as Williams’ replacement was a return to tradition. And the appointment of Robinson to succeed Hadden followed the same pattern, in the sense that both were promoted after successful spells in charge of Edinburgh.

But the difference, of course, was that before Edinburgh, Robinson was coach of England. And before that, from 1988 to 1995, he was one of the most fiercely patriotic members of an England team which for many Scots epitomised a certain strain of arrogance – one which Robinson himself accused the English of displaying the last time the teams met, at last year’s Rugby World Cup.

Around the time that Robinson was playing for England, Lancaster was making his way through the ranks of Scotland’s age-group teams. Born in Cumbria, he was Scottish-qualified as his mother was from Dumfries, and he played for Scotland Under-19s, Scotland Under-21s and Scottish Students, where his team-mates included future full internationals Stuart Reid – a former schoolmate of his from St Bees in Cumbria – Doddie Weir and Graham Shiel.

“Stuart was a really conscientious guy, always interested in the technicalities of the game and tactics,” his former coach and ex-Scotland stand-off John Rutherford recalled this week. “The only reason he never played for Scotland’s senior side was because in that generation there were a lot of very talented back-row players. When he got the job I had a giggle – it’s quite something when an ex-Scotland player gets the England job.”

And when, at the same time, an ex-England player has the Scotland job, it is all the more remarkable. But the blurring of boundaries does not begin and end there: instead, both countries’ national set-ups have an increasing number of high-ranking individuals who at one time of their lives would have been seen, in sporting terms at least, as the enemy.

Scottish Rugby Union chief executive Mark Dodson, for instance, described himself as “a pure-bred Englishman” on his appointment last autumn. SRU chairman Sir Moir Lockhead is from Durham, and in the XV, Scotland lock Jim Hamilton, born in Swindon, played for England Under 21s in a previous life.

Meanwhile, in the England ranks today we have former Scotland Under-21 player Tom Palmer in the second row, and former Scotland Under-19 player Lee Dickson on the bench. The England Under-20 coach is Rob Hunter, the Scotland A player – who played at London Scottish alongside recently-departed RFU chief executive John Steele.

Even Sir Clive Woodward, who was in charge of England when they won the World Cup in 2003, has a link. The man who now insists he loathed every visit to Murrayfield grew up little more than a mile away from the stadium and attended Corstorphine Primary School.

The wider reality, of course, is that the two countries are part of a larger state, and that movement across the Border is common in every walk of life. Eligiblity rules for players remain in place, but at management level we appear more relaxed these days, and less in need of those strict divisions.

And certainly, Robinson’s knowledge of the England set-up, and Lancaster’s familiarity with Scottish rugby, are novel ingredients in the complex mix which makes up today’s game. Lancaster attended last night’s match at Netherdale between Scotland A and England Saxons, but he and Robinson had earlier recorded video messages to guests at the Glengoyne Auld Enemy Dinner at The Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh, also held last night. The event was organised by Reid, in association with The Scotsman, to raise funds for The Bill McLaren Foundation and Help for Heroes.

Lancaster spoke of his memories of playing for Scotland, and learning from Rutherford, who was at the dinner, and going on to become a PE teacher, like the former Scotland fly-half. “My journey from Scotland U19s to students, from PE teacher to England coach, has been incredible but fantastic, and I am very much looking forward to this weekend’s game,” he said.

“My earliest memories of the Calcutta Cup were watching Fin Calder and Peter Winterbottom, playing on their respective sides, and it has always been just a fantastic occasion. We’re expecting a hostile, challenging environment and that’s what international sport is about. But I know what it is like being in a Scottish dressing room, and what it means. It’s going to be a fantastic occasion at Murrayfield, certainly for me and my squad, and I want to make sure we do our country proud.”

Lancaster has been named interim coach, and the RFU’s insistence that applications for the permanent job be received before the end of the tournament has fuelled suspicions that they are seeking a big name in world rugby to take the reins through to the 2015 World Cup. But Lancaster wants the role, and he has made great strides off the pitch to turn around an unhealthy mood within the England camp. Martin Johnson’s failure to deal with that mood led to a bitter World Cup campaign and ultimately his departure, despite a decent record of ten wins in 13 games.

Lancaster called in a handful of England internationalists from cricket, football and rugby league to speak to the new squad in his first week with them, and one of the lesser-known moves he made to create a new inspiring environment around the squad was to write to each of the players’ parents. He asked them what it meant to them to see their sons play rugby for their country, and followed up by asking them to suggest individuals who had played key roles in their sons’ careers. He then contacted those characters and asked for their views on the players. When the squad was assembled in Leeds, the venue Lancaster chose for a pre-Six Nations camp – quite different to Johnson’s choice of Portugal – the comments appeared in frames for the stunned players to read.

Lancaster told the audience last night: “We reached a point in the World Cup with English rugby where we had to change direction. I’ve had the opportunity to do that and there’s no bigger test for us, first up, than to come to Murrayfield to play against a Scottish side that is well coached and experienced. I am sure it will be a fantastic occasion. This is what makes this game of rugby special.”

As the oldest international in rugby, this fixture is always special. But, with Robinson on one side and Lancaster on the other, today’s game in particular is extra-special.