World Cup training camp has Andy Robinson's juices flowing

ANDY Robinson spoke yesterday about wanting to be a club coach again - but fans need not fear.

The national coach was not trying to link his name with an audacious move back to the English Premiership or into the French Top 14, but merely stressing how satisfying it is to know that, after his exiled players join the group on Monday, he will have unbroken access to his full international squad for a nine-week period during the build-up to the 2011 Rugby World Cup. "We're coaches and being out on the pitch working with the players is what we thrive on," he said. "For an international coach to be involved in a full pre-season reminds you of what you are missing - it makes you want to be a club coach again."

While Robinson expects the next few months to be rewarding on a personal level, he reckons the players in the squad will be the biggest benefactors. "No international player in the northern hemisphere will get a better window than they have now for training, at least not until the next World Cup, so this is the time where they can make the biggest difference to their game, and that's why we are trying to push the guys to the limit," he explained.

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Robinson plans to use the time he has with the squad to break their individual and collective games down to the sort of nuts-and-bolts level which is impossible to achieve during the never-ending cycle of a usual rugby season. He has already made a start on this in his work with Scotland's home-based players during the last fortnight.

"Neil Potts is the strength and conditioning coach and he has gone into real depth looking at what is going to make a difference to the players on the pitch," he said "You can have the fittest and fastest people out there - but it is about how they translate that into games, so the guys have been working really hard on that. We've been talking about the standards we want to set and worked hard not only on strength and conditioning but on our skills, especially under pressure.

"We've broken the skills right down so that we are working on catching and passing, on handing-off, on our rucking technique and so on. Last week the front five were working on their scrum technique, so all the strength and conditioning work we are doing is related to how we want to play."

Robinson added that, despite being in only the preliminary stages of such a long build-up towards the World Cup, he already knows the identity of 25 of the final 30 players he plans to take to New Zealand.

"There are five places still to be confirmed. I'm still discussing with the coaches the make-up of the squad, whether we are going 17-13, whether we are going 16-14, whether we are taking four props or five props - those decisions will be made after the Italy game, although we will have a better understanding after the Ireland game," he said.

"One of the key developments for us over the last year is that a number of our players can play in different positions. Max Evans can play on the wing or in the centre, as can Sean Lamont - so that helps us put together a squad which covers all the bases," he added.

Clearly not all the selection issues which Robinson is working his way through are cut and dried choices between two players in the same position. He is looking at trying to find a combination which covers every eventuality - which means that selection could come down to a choice between a prop and a winger, or between a full-back and a back-row.

For example, if Robinson decides he is comfortable taking just four props instead of five - despite the fact that the Scottish scrum struggled all last season and will be put through the grinder again during the World Cup - then Moray Low could find himself missing out to winger Nikki Walker.

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Similarly, Robinson will be thinking long and hard about whether he can afford to go to New Zealand with only five specialist loose forwards - and rely on Nathan Hines to cover the back as well as the second-row - in order to free up a place elsewhere in the squad.

Behind the scrum it looks like a straight fight between Mike Blair and Greig Laidlaw for the third scrum-half slot; while Ben Cairns, Nick De Luca, Rory Lamont, Simon Danielli and Walker will all be hopeful but not completely confident of making the trip.

Robinson also revealed yesterday that the six players who were rested by the Scottish pro-team at the end of last season - Al Kellock, Richie Gray, John Barclay, Max Evans, Ross Ford and Allan Jacobsen - are certain to play in the first of Scotland's two warm-up matches against Ireland on 6 August. Meanwhile, Hines and Kelly Brown will be rested for that match because their seasons finished late due to being involved in the Heineken Cup and Aviva Premiership finals respectively.

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