Scotland 23-10 Fiji
Posted on | November 18, 2009 | No Comments
As a long suffering fan of the Scottish rugby team I’ve watched new coaches come and go with much fanfare and optimism for the future. And in the case of Frank Hadden – who had a nice run of relatively easy test matches to start his tenure – the optimism seemed justified. However, as soon as the Six Nations came around, and the opposition became consistently stronger, defeat became the norm.
And so up pops Andy Robinson and Fiji. Frankly a defeat for Scotland would have been unacceptable, more important was the manner in which they won the game. Unfortunately, it wasn’t pretty.
Scotland scored two tries – one was opportunist and one was arguably a forward pass. They also gifted Fiji their one score. The remaining points came from the boot of Phil Godman who kicked very well but did little else.
The pack was solid, and the scrum set piece was particularly impressive. The line-out ticked over nicely. Johnnie Beattie put in a performance to justify starting ahead of Ally Hogg whose international prospects seem to be going backwards fast. Alisdair Strokosch was a bit quiet perhaps suggesting the Glasgow’s Killer Bees (Beattie, Brown and Barclay) should be the starting back row.
Behind the pack Cusiter was superb, and even though Mike Blair is going through a dismal period of form – one that started when he ran onto the pitch for the first time in South Africa with the Lions and which doesn’t appear to be over yet – Cusiter is still by far the best scrum half in Scotland if not Britain and Ireland. Alex Grove had a particularly good debut showing that he has soft hands, gas to spare and Pacific Island tackle on him. Morrison was solid as ever and the Lamont brothers looked like they were enjoying themselves again.
Despite the encouraging performances the second half was perhaps the most turgid period of rugby I’ve ever seen – even I wanted to switch channels, something which has never, ever happened whilst Scotland have been ahead in an international. I think the barrage of substitutions on sixty minutes effectively killed the game. I’d have kept the starting fifteen on and waited for Fiji to fall apart.
In general it was a good performance and whilst the final score doesn’t suggest it, Fiji were never, ever going to win. However, from this long-suffering supporter’s perspective it was a little disappointing. Scotland showed little creativity, little back play and kicked far too much.
Beattie’s try came from a fluffed line out that Cusiter pounced on. Sure the support play was great and the execution was perfect, but it all came from a mistake. Teams like Australia, New Zealand and South Africa don’t make many mistakes so there needs to be something else. Something that I haven’t seen Scotland do for many years now is run with the ball.
There are some fantastically creative backs in Scotland at the moment – the Evans brothers, Cairns, De Luca, etc – and I’d really like to see Scotland deviate from the “big and quick” set of requirements for three quarters. This approach firmly sets the cross-hairs on the likes of Morrison, Danielli and arguably at least one of the Lamonts.
Godman is the best fit ten that Scotland have. Unfortunately he’s plodding yet solid, magnificently unspectacular yet very accurate in what he does. He’ll put Scotland in the corners. He’ll kick the goals with a better than average success rate and he’ll stick over a drop for three if needed. That is all. I can’t help but feel that he is keeping the seat warm for Ruaridh Jackson.
Morrison is big and quick, and he has a magnificent left foot step that straightens things up nicely. Cairns and De Luca can do that too, but also offer a bit more creativity and better hands. However, Morrison is a solid peg to hang the defensive line on, so I’m inclined to keep him.
Grove has already shown that he has all the attributes I like to see, so I’d be inclined to keep him in the side and see if Australia can beat the beginner’s luck out of him. Max Evans is the other prime option at outside centre someone I believe will become a great, great player, but is currently injured.
At full back, Rory Lamont is having a Jonny Wilkinson-esque revival at Toulon and is playing magnificently. The only other option at fifteen is Paterson and let’s face it – he was only ever picked for his goal kicking.
On the wings Lamont, S. and Danielli typify the big, quick lump style of back, however Sean Lamont offers that much more. He looks for work, he fills that fourth back rower role the Ben Cohen played so well, his defence is shudderingly effective and he rarely makes mistakes. Danielli’s main contribution against Fiji was to rush the line and concede the try. I don’t want to knock the guy – I’ve seen him put in some great performances and score some wonderful tries for Scotland – but I just don’t want him in this Scotland side.
Thom Evans is the obvious replacement. Whilst Danielli is big and quick, Evans is big and really, really quick. Whilst his inexperience may be an issue, and I’m not going to make a judgement about his defence just now, with that much pace on the park you’ll concern any opposition.
So in actual fact I’ve only picked one player different from the starting line against Fiji. Which I think highlights the fact that whilst there is some fantastic talent in Scotland, there isn’t the depth. Most positions have a two choices, albeit a choice between two excellent and world class players (for example Cusiter versus Blair, forgiving the latter’s current form). However a couple of positions only really have one choice (fly half, full back) and that is the problem.
Andy Robinson’s winning streak is almost certainly going to end against Australia on Saturday, but in the same way that the manner of victory was important against Fiji, the manner of defeat against Australia is of crucial significance. If Andy Robinson won’t let these players try to run and pass and score tries then we might as well all go home.
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