Six Nations: English showed us no respect, says unrepentant Andy Robinson

SCOTLAND coach Andy Robinson has accused England’s rugby players of lacking respect for Scotland and has made no apology for his recent remarks about “arrogance” in the English squad at the Rugby World Cup.

In comments that are sure to be a major talking point when the RBS Six Nations Championship is officially launched in London today, Robinson said: “I believe respect is important in this game and for me it’s important that we’re respectful of the opposition and we go out and perform at our very best, but I feel Scotland has not been respected.

“We have to go out and earn that respect by the way that we play and ultimately by winning the game, but I have concerns.”

Robinson played for England in the Calcutta Cup and coached England to wins and defeats in the Calcutta Cup. He has faced England on three occasions as Scotland coach, drawing the first match and narrowly losing the other two, with the most recent match an agonising 16-12 defeat which knocked Scotland out of the World Cup. The nations meet again a week on Saturday at Murrayfield in their opening fixture of the RBS Six Nations Championship. Speaking to English media last week, Robinson said that he was hugely disappointed in the behaviour of some England players before, during and after their match with Scotland at the World Cup.

He was reported as saying: “It’s important for any team to show humility, especially when you are winning. I thought a number of England players undermined this in the arrogance they showed.

“They know who they are and it was not across the board, but unfortunately the whole squad got tarnished.”

He stood by those comments yesterday, and said that he had been upset by a number of incidents and comments emanating from the English camp around games with Scotland over the past year and more.