THE SCOTSMAN REPORTSScots get wires crossed with poor lineout calls
DAVID FERGUSON
IF DEFENCE decided who won and lost, Scotland would be cruising into next week with eyes on a first RBS Six Nations Championship title.

But the Calcutta Cup win was, as Frank Hadden, the Scotland coach, envisaged, a one-off. Playing without the ball does not win many international Test matches. Nor should it. The worrying aspect of Scotland's performance in Dublin, therefore, was the continuing slide of the lineout, an area of the game which used to spark fear in opposing packs and created a platform for attack after attack.

Instead of being an area of strength, it is now targeted as a weakness in the Scottish armoury and there is little doubt the Italians, led by Marco Bortolami, one of the more astute forwards in the championship, will be aiming to use the set-piece as their route to victory in Rome on Saturday. The manner in which Ronan O'Gara and Peter Stringer, the Ireland half-backs, opted to kick the ball for touch more often as the game wore on was an indication of how Ireland believed the lineout on Scotland's throw had become like the old-style 50-50 scrap for possession.

The weather clearly played a part and the wind at Lansdowne Road is a notorious test of a hooker's throwing abilities, but Ireland's inexperienced No2 Jerry Flannery nailed every single throw, while Dougie Hall struggled to find Scottish hands for most of the first half. Scott Murray, the leader of the Scotland lineout, has some serious thinking to do, along with forwards coach Shade Munro, locks Nathan Hines, Alastair Kellock and Scott MacLeod, and the hookers Hall and Scott Lawson.

Murray insisted: "One thing we have to look at is how we call our lineouts because at the moment it's taking a bit too long. I think we work really well when we go in with high-tempo, fast lineouts, as we did later on in the game.

"The Irish were at home so were getting the ball dried for their throws and we weren't, the referee was giving them an age to decide where to throw and we got pinged for one that wasn't very long at all. But they were also competing well, using one-man lifts, so always seemed to have one extra jumper. It's one thing they have been working hard on and it worked well for them against us.

"Paul O'Connell was getting higher than you'd expect on a day like it was with just one man lifting, and we should have been higher with two lifters, but it didn't happen and they got their fingers to the ball too many times."

Despite being the most experienced player in the squad, with 74 caps in a ten-year Test career, Murray has clearly found guaranteeing yourself possession from your own throw a tough problem. Asked why Ireland seemed to control the lineout with ease, he shrugged: "They were getting their throws on the money and we weren't. Maybe we weren't as clever as they were; we have to use our elbows a bit more, scrag a jumper here or there.

"It's not all down to one man or one thing, and often many aspects go right, but one other can go wrong. Dougie [Hall] had a couple of squints, I made a couple of bad calls and our calling system is something we have to work on. But Ireland played well and in O'Connell and O'Kelly have two of the best second rows in the game.

"We lost our composure a bit as their defence was pretty sharp and seemed to cotton on to our lineouts early on. And that makes it tougher, when you can't call your lineouts and have to get in a huddle each time. We lost seven lineouts, I think, which is poor, but they only pinched three out of the 30 we had so we have to look at the quality of our set-piece.

"It was obviously a boost to them when they were winning some of our throws, and with Ronan O'Gara a quality kicker it meant that they had someone who could hit the ball 30 or 40 metres down the touchline and have another go at us."

For his part, Hadden also highlighted the failings of the visitors' lineout, in fairly blunt terms.

"We only won a 22 out of our 30 lineouts and that's definitely something we need to address and do better in that area," said the Scotland coach. "It's small consolation that it is a slight improvement on the last few weeks. But we have to do better in that area."

There do not seem to be any easy answers, but the Scotland camp know they must find some before the end of this week. It may mean another change at hooker, the third in five games, with Lawson returning to the starting line-up. Ross Ford, the injured Borders hooker, will be cursing his luck as his strength and throwing-in skills may have won him a first start had he still been available.

It may be that the Scotland management have to look at securing better coaching for the lineout throwers and jumpers. Goal-kicking was a key problem for Scotland a few years ago, but the arrival of kicking coach Mick Byrne - who, though discarded by the SRU, still liaises with Chris Paterson - helped transform that area.

Murray, however, remains hopeful that the lineout can improve as quickly as it has deteriorated. He added: "The lineouts were obviously a massive disappointment, but we have to take it on the chin. We obviously worry about our lineout, but we have to put it behind us and compose ourselves a bit. There is a lot we are doing well as a team and as long as we keep striving to get better and better I'm confident it will improve."

There was something appropriate about the return of the Scottish team to a cold, wintry Edinburgh yesterday. Not a reason for depression, nor to feel that the recent bright outlook has been misplaced, but a sobering reminder that real improvement in Test rugby is not an overnight process.

This article was posted on 13-Mar-2006, 08:06 by Hugh Barrow.