White will rue Argentina defeat ‘for the rest of his life’

SCOTLAND have so far been in only one Rugby World Cup semi-final, but Jason White believes that tally should already stand at two.

White was captain of the national side at the last tournament four years ago, when they lost narrowly to Argentina in the quarter-finals. To this day he rues the missed opportunity which he feels that match represented, and, as the current squad prepare for Sunday’s group game against the Pumas, urges them to make the most of their time on the sport’s biggest stage.

“That match is going to be a frustration for me for the rest of my life,” White said yesterday from France, where he plays for Clermont Auvergne. “We should have won it, and if we had done, we would have been in the semi-finals. After that, who knows what would have happened?”

Although Argentina went into that last-eight clash as slight favourites, having impressed from the opening game of the tournament when they defeated hosts France, Scotland steadily got on top of the encounter. When Chris Cusiter touched down with less that 20 minutes to play, a victory looked on the cards for Frank Hadden’s side. But, in a desperately tight finale, the South Americans held on to win 19-13 and send White and his colleagues home.

“We probably didn’t open the game up until it was too late,” he recalled. “They had a strong kicking game, and played the style of rugby which has served them so well for a long time, but we definitely had the opportunities to win. You could say we just weren’t good enough, but the chance was there to get into the last four.”

If anything, the frustration for White is probably greater now than it was in 2007. Now 33, he is still capable of playing at the highest level, and had been quietly optimistic that he would be part of the squad this time round. It was therefore only in the past couple of months that he finally had to recognise that quarter-final defeat as his last involvement in the World Cup.

“I probably did still harbour hopes of playing in this one, so now, looking back, that was the one chance of my life to get to the semi-finals. It’s not like I’ve got a chip on my shoulder about it or anything like that, and we all take responsibility for the result, but it would have been exceptional to get into the last four.”

As Andy Robinson and his squad prepare for this weekend’s game, one significant difference is of course that their participation in the tournament will not instantly be over should they lose. But, while accepting that on paper his compatriots could be beaten on Sunday but still go through to the last eight with a win over England six days later, White is certain that their best way of approaching this game is to treat it as a must-win fixture.

Not only would that eliminate the Pumas after their earlier loss to the English, it would also, he believes, give Scotland the best chance of going on to win the next game too – and qualify for the quarter-finals as pool winners.

“The guys will be looking at it as very much a must-win. Neither the Argentina game nor the England one will be easy, of course, but if we look at it in isolation this is probably the one which we have more opportunity to win. If we do beat Argentina, we’ll go into the England game in a much more confident frame of mind.”

Had this World Cup been taking place a year ago, not long after Scotland’s two Test victories in Argentina, the Scots would have been strong favourites. Since then, however, they have struggled to recapture the form they showed then, although it should also be said that the Pumas, too, are nothing like the power they were at the last World Cup.

Many pundits, judging by the early games in the group, have Argentina as marginal favourites, but White sees things differently. “It is very, very even, but I’d still put Scotland in as slight favourites.

“The Pumas are very passionate about their rugby, and you can rely on them to put up a real fight, but I wouldn’t read a whole lot into our games against Romania or Georgia other than the fact we won them both. Romania and Georgia were both playing their first games in the competition and you can always expect a special effort from teams in that situation, and the weather conditions were tough.

“I’ve got every confidence in our guys. Their preparation has been excellent, and it’s going to come down to them showing they can deliver on the big stage.

“There will be moments of real pressure, and the outcome could be decided on some very small incidents.”