THE SCOTSMAN REPORTS
Hamilton's size, skill and Scottish roots tick all the boxes
ALLAN MASSIE

IT'S SAID that in Scotland's famous Triple Crown match at Twickenham in 1938 - Wilson Shaw's game - the English forwards secured some two-thirds of possession; yet Scotland won 21-16, scoring five tries to one. This was - and is - unusual. It's normal for the team that dominates up front to win the game. Professional golfers say "you drive for show and putt for dough," and in rugby the result is more often than not determined by the outcome of the forwards' battle. Not always, fortunately. It depends on what you are able to do with the ball you win.

Last Sunday, at Welford Road, the Leicester pack totally outplayed Munster. They shoved them about the field in the tight, they mauled magnificently, and the Munster line-out, usually so secure, was made to look raged.


Yet Munster won the match, partly because they capitalised on Leicester mistakes, partly because they defended so doggedly, and partly because Leicester suffered from their own indiscipline, which several times saw them concede an extra ten metres when penalised. The last time this happened Ronan O'Gara kicked the winning goal from just inside his own half. But for the indiscipline, he would have had to go for touch.

Again, in last season's Calcutta Cup, England dominated possession, but were unable to make use of it and score tries. Scotland defended magnificently, and Chris Paterson took his chances to kick penalties. It was a famous victory, but you won't often win a game in which you have as little possession as Scotland had that day.

Over the decades we have seldom had a dominating pack. Indeed you have to go back to the early Seventies to find a time when we had the best front five in the championship.

This unit - McLauchlan, Madsen (or Dunlop), Carmichael, Gordon Brown and McHarg - helped to make Murrayfield an impregnable fortress, nine successive championship games being won there.

The success owed much to the technical expertise of the coach, Bill Dickinson. Since those days we have rarely, even in our best seasons, achieved more than parity up front.

We have had some great players in the front row and at lock - Iain Milne, David Sole, Colin Deans, and Alan Tomes in the 80s, Tom Smith and Scott Murray more recently; but the sad fact is that we have never had a pack that inspired fear in the opposition. Respect yes, sometimes; fear no.

In one sense this is not surprising. Size and bulk matter, and it's obvious that England and France will always have more big men to choose from.

This is simply a question of numbers. But the point is that because there is more competition among big men there than there can be here, a French or English prop or lock has to offer more than his size to be selected.

In contrast, it's possible to think of men picked for Scotland because they were big, even if they weren't very good rugby players.

Strengthening the scrum has to be one of Frank Hadden's priorities, and this is why we should all welcome the decision of Leicester's Jim Hamilton, pictured, to opt for Scotland, even though he was born in England and has played for England at age-group level.

He is not only very big, but, from what one has seen of him, a pretty skilful rugby player too. As for his qualification, it's at least as good as that of many who have done great deeds for Scotland; a Scottish father who was a sergeant-major in a Highland Regiment should be qualification enough to satisfy anyone.

The letter-writer who said it brought back "terrible memories of Brenda (surely he meant Brendan?) Laney" is wide of the mark.

There is enough competition to ensure that Hamilton won't walk into the Scotland team without having to prove himself - unlike Laney.

With Alastair Kellock, Nathan Hines, Scott Murray and Scott McLeod (injured at present) all in contention, there is going to be quite a tussle for jerseys number 4 and 5. Which is as it should be.

One might observe also that Craig Hamilton has played very well for the Borders the last two weeks.

What of the props? The omission of Bruce Douglas from the squad announced this week makes it clear that form, rather than reputation, is what now counts.

This leaves us with two from Gavin Kerr, Euan Murray and the Edinburgh pair Allen Jacobsen and Craig Smith. Gavin Kerr has also been playing outstandingly well for the Borders, while it's been accepted for some time that Murray is potentially the strongest and most skilful scrummager we have - if only he can stay clear of injury for more than a few weeks at a time.

As for the Edinburgh pair, often criticised for their scrummaging in the past, it's worth noting that both are only now approaching their peak. Props take longer than most to mature, both physically and in terms of experience. Jacobsen and Smith are the same age, 28.

A prop's best years are often between twenty-eight and thirty-three. Some go on even longer than that, especially if they haven't been pushed too hard when young.

One of the greatest of French Props, Alfred Roques, didn't even play rugby till he was 27, was first capped at 33, and continued to play international rugby till he was 38. He used to be photographed scrumming against a Charolais bullock on his farm in the Midi. Perhaps Edinburgh's new owners should buy an Aberdeen-Angus stot for Jacobsen, Smith and the young hopeful Alastair Dickinson to work



Wilson Shaw--Glasgow HSFP
Stand-off/ Centre/ Wing (1934-1939)

First capped in 1934 against Wales, Wilson Shaw was the most talented Scottish back of the 1930s. He played most of his games at stand-off but, as with Gregor Townsend, the selectors couldn’t decide on his best position and he also played as both a wing and a centre.

An excellent breaking stand-off, Shaw had a lethal side-step and breathtaking acceleration, although he was by no means the complete article; only a moderate kicker, his tackling was described in The Scotsman as ‘incredibly slack’. However, in 1938, after already winning 13 caps without really establishing himself, Shaw’s brilliance led Scotland to the Triple Crown and his own place in history - like Townsend in 1999 though, if it had not been for injuries elsewhere Shaw would not have played at stand-off at all.
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The 1938 Triple Crown was decided, almost inevitably, against England at Twickenham in a game which became known as ‘Wilson Shaw’s match’. In an incredible contest which the Scots won 21-16, (and a try count of 5-1), Shaw scored two tries and made a third. After the match he was carried shoulder-high from the field and acclaimed as ‘the greatest rugby player of his generation’.

Of course by next season he was out on the wing again and Scotland lost all three of their internationals. But the memory of 1938 lasted long in the memory – it had to, Scotland would not win the Triple Crown again until 1984, on their way to a long-awaited Grand Slam.

Shaw played 19 times for his country, the last against England in 1939, in an international career curtailed by poor selection and the outbreak of war. But he will be remembered for that Triple Crown triumph when he repeatedly broke the English line, breaking ‘as if he had been shot from a gun’.

This article was originally posted on 28-Oct-2006, 07:54 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 28-Oct-2006, 07:57.