THE HERALD REPORTS

Character (noun): a set of qualities that is shared by many people in a group, team, country etc

Kevin Ferrie
Senior Sports Writer
Monday 25 November 2013
The pre-match fireworks generated much smoke but it was the mirrors of potential illusion which sprang to mind at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Perhaps Scott Johnson, caretaker national coach and Scottish Rugby Union director of rugby, was justified in declaring his men's demonstration of character as the big positive to be gained.

Yet as the bluff Australian said, repeatedly, after Scotland had lost to his countrymen for the first time in three meetings, it raised the question of what we mean by character in sport.

It has, lately, been displayed by individuals and teams representing Scotland. When, for example, badminton player Kirsty Gilmour lost 13 successive points and the second set of her second-round tie at the Scottish International Grand Prix at The Emirates on Friday she faced a real test. An embarrassing defeat was avoided, however, as she duly worked her way through to yesterday's final.

Perhaps even more relevant was the way Scotland's rugby league team found themselves 8-0 down to the USA at half-time in their final pool match, after a series of bad breaks, yet came out after the interval to score 22 unanswered points. The spirit generated within that thrown-together squad by Steve McCormack, their head coach, and Danny Brough, their captain, was remarkable to witness close up.

Character is, of course, partly down to nature. But nurture plays a part - where parents, teachers and coaches need to set standards, then ensure they are maintained.

On Saturday Scotland was visited by a group of Australians whose off-field behaviour, in going out for a few drinks without any reported incident, has fallen far below the standards on which their new coach Ewen McKenzie is insisting.

His response has been to issue punishments considered draconian by some, but which ensured that no-one in the camp was in any doubt about what is going to be expected of them under this regime.

The on-field response has been impressive. Last week, just days after those indiscretions, they put in what is considered their best performance of the year to beat a high-class Ireland side.

Doubtless it was not, but it almost felt like a calculated insult that they suspended players not for that match but for their meeting with Scotland. Whether that was down to a calculation that they could still beat Scotland without several leading players, only they know, but they did.

The off-field behaviour of some Scottish internationalists has also come under scrutiny. The courts may yet decide they did no more than find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, yet that alone raises questions, and the contrast with the Australian management's reaction is interesting. If any punishment has been issued it has not been made public, while the head coach continues to praise the collective character of his men.

That, in turn, brought to mind an interview with Kirsty Gilmour's coach, Yvette Yun Luo, who, drawing upon her upbringing in a ruthless sporting environment, explained: "In China we say if I praise you in front of you it means I lie to you because I want you to like me. If I praise you behind you that is true. It's not about trying to please you."

Since the alleged off-field incident involving Scotland players was exposed, they have been nilled by the Springboks and lost to the weakened Wallabies.

Amid those pre-match fireworks on Saturday, then, was something almost symbolic about the team being led out by Jim Hamilton - a player whose apparent aggression on and off the field has helped earn him selection in a career that has now reached 50 caps. He has been on the winning side just 14 times.

Hamilton has also repeatedly been selected ahead of Al Kellock, the Glasgow Warriors captain, who has won 25 times in just six more appearances.

Kellock's only autumn Test appearance having been against Japan, Scotland's World Cup captain started both the tryless wins in 2009 and 2012 over the Australians which were earned almost solely on strength of character. Hamilton played in neither.

No-one would argue that Kellock does not have shortcomings in his game, but he has done more than most to instil real character in Glasgow Warriors in recent years.

Admittedly theirs, too, is under examination right now with considerable effort required to ensure that the hard work of the seven years Kellock has been their captain is not undermined.

However, if Scotland's management truly mean what they say about character being valued as much as more statistically measurable factors, it may be time for all concerned to stop blowing smoke into players while taking a proper look at themselves

This article was posted on 25-Nov-2013, 08:23 by Hugh Barrow.