Robinson calls for cool heads
Scotland coach Andy Robinson has told his team to keep their heads as they bid to end their try-less run when they face Wales in the Six Nations at the Millennium Stadium on Sunday.
There was no lack of passion, ambition or indeed pace from Scotland during last weekend’s tournament opener against England.
But a succession of handling errors saw the Scots play a large part in their own downfall during a 13-6 Calcutta Cup loss at Murrayfield – a defeat that represented their fourth successive Test without a try.
That damning statistic hangs over Scotland as they attempt to win in Cardiff for the first time in 10 years against a Wales team fresh from running in three tries during a 23-21 win away to Ireland last weekend.
“The big area for us is to keep our composure,” Robinson said.
“The set-piece went well (against England), we ran hard with the ball and we made line-breaks.
“We just didn’t finish off, and that is the key to Test rugby,” former England flanker and coach Robinson said. “We had a four-on-two (overlap) that we didn’t finish off last week, and at other times it was two on one.
“I have been delighted with our endeavour and the way we are trying to play the game. It’s now about getting over the line. Whether it is three points or five points, you have got to finish things off.”
England managed just the one try at Murrayfield, through a Charlie Hodgson charge down of a kick from Dan Parks, the Scotland flyhalf who announced his international retirement just days after the game.
And Robinson is expecting World Cup semi-finalists Wales to pose more problems for Scotland’s defence.
“If you look at the amount of defending we had to do last week, it was not a lot, and that is one of the key areas this week – to understand that we are going to have probably a 50-50 share of defensive work to do,” he explained.
“I think Wales play a good all-round game. They have an astute kicking game, as well as being able to play with ball in hand, so they are very well balanced in the way they want to play the game.
“One lapse, and they have the ability to exploit that.
“George North is exceptional at what he does, as is Jamie Roberts. Jonathan Davies scored two very good tries last week, Leigh Halfpenny is a cracking counter-attacker, there was Rhys Priestland’s offload to Jonathan Davies for his first try last week, and then you’ve got Mike Phillips, too.
“You just can’t focus on one player.”
However, the burning question for a Scotland side with Greig Laidlaw in the pivotal position of fly-half is can they end their try drought?
“I think the Welsh defence is well organised, so it is going to be a lot harder for us to break them down,” Robinson said.
“But if you get really quick ball, we believe we can break any defence down.”
AFP
