SCOTLAND ON SUNDAYS REPORTS



Scott Hastings, John Beattie and Craig Chalmers talk things over


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View GalleryWITH Frank Hadden's side attracting flak from all quarters after two humbling Six Nations outings, some names from the game look for solutions

Time: Friday lunchtime
Venue: Igg's restaurant, Edinburgh
Personnel: Iain Morrison, John Beattie, Scott Hastings and Craig Chalmers
Topic for debate: Is Scottish rugby in crisis?

IM: Thank you for coming. I suppose the first question to ask is whether there really is a crisis in Scottish rugby or whether it's just a media-induced storm?

JB: When I retired I watched these two guys (Hastings and Chalmers] win some games and lose some games. Sometimes we do get caught up in things. I am not sure we are in a full blown crisis.

SH: I think rather that it's an aspect of professionalism; I think the fans demand more of professional athletes and, at the moment they (Scotland) are making far too many mistakes. The ordinary punter can't see any direction that this side is going in.

CC: Ever since the Italy game of last year when we made a lot of mistakes the side has retreated back into its shell. There are no questions being asked of the opposition.

JB: Yeah but the top line players are all injured: Sean and Rory Lamont, Jason White, Simon Taylor.

SH: Sean had a very poor season last year, the bottom line is that these guys are not performing.

IM: Is the composition of the team correct?

CC: I don't think Jason should be in the back row.

JB: He didn't train before the Wales match did he? He's was carrying a knee injury. I'd have him in the back row but only if he's fit and he's not fit. I also think that Sean Lamont is a great attacking player. He scored a cracking try against France two years ago.

CC: His brother Rory is a much better player.

SH: John, you are talking about injuries and we are talking about players performing. It's up to the players on the pitch to add that dynamism to the overall tactics. The leadership must come from the players.

IM: But Scotland are desperately short of leaders, Nathan Hines does more talking on the field than Jason White does.

SH: And now we learn that Hines wasn't fit enough to play international rugby (last weekend).

JB: Nor was Jason White.

CC: I would have Scott MacLeod in for Jim Hamilton. I watched him last week and he simply isn't fit.

IM: Isn't the problem that Hadden has an enormous pack of forwards but they are not very mobile?

CC: I've been told that Scotland are going to revert in Dublin to the wide game that they used before, that's the way they're going to go so they'll have to change the pack so that they can get around the park or they won't be able to play the fast game. You talk about players taking responsibility but I think that the coaches need to take responsibility as well, they have to get the game plan spot on. We need a kicking game and a running game, we have to ask questions of the defence and we haven't tested anyone yet. The problem is that Mossy (Chris Paterson) hasn't been starting for Gloucester, he needs game time, but I think he'll start against Ireland.

IM: He was due start for Gloucester yesterday.

JB: If they want to play a heads-up style of game then Dan Parks is not the flyhalf to play that game plan.

CC: I've seen Parks play flat for Glasgow and off-load on the gain line.

IM: But that is when his confidence is high, for Scotland he sinks deeper and deeper into the pocket.

CC: When Parks sits in the pocket he has no option but to kick the ball, kick it, kick it. We are too predictable. We are too restricted in the way we play the game.

SH: When things don't go well you have to revert to your stock game and Scotland's stock game seems to be this pick and drive. It's so stagnant. When have you seen Nikki Walker come off his wing? You need to bring him and Andy Henderson into the match, running straight lines.

CC: He does it for the Ospreys.
IM: And the forwards?

JB: I think that our technique at the breakdown is poor, other countries are ahead of us. I don't think it's a Frank Hadden problem. Frank doesn't coach, Frank does shape.

SH: But right now I don't think Frank is getting the best out of his players.

IM: John, you called for Andy Robinson to join the Scotland camp.

JB: Yeah, but I didn't mean instead of Frank. I've watched Edinburgh this year and they do a lot of things differently. Andy Robinson has a little knowledge that we should tap into as a country. I don't think Hadden is a fool, I think he's clever. He spoke about things that I'd never heard off. I think Hadden is okay, I worry about some of the guys under him. I think Robinson would make a huge difference with the forwards.

SH: But does Hadden have the ability to take this team forward because at the moment it's just not happening. Look what (Nick) Mallet did with Italy last weekend. He made changes at half time and they worked.

CC: We were so static against Wales, those pops around the corner are so easy to defend. They don't go anywhere. We must attack a bit wider next weekend.

JB: Have we got the players to do that?

CC: I don't know if we have. De Luca's confidence is shot, Andy Henderson is a little predictable.

SH: He gets across the (gain) line.

CC: He plays like a forward, the commentators mistook him for one last weekend. But you look at the Scottish midfield and Parks is the only one to do any talking, the others need to communicate better. The defensive structure at times last weekend was non-existent, guys were rushing up out of the line. There were gaps on the inside, gaps on the outside, gaps everywhere. We're making it easy for them. I am sure that Alan Tait is not asking them to defend like they did in Cardiff, there are responsibilities on both sides, players and coaches. The players are not as bad as they've looked and the coaches need to give them a bit of a boost. I don't know how much one-on-one talking Hadden has done with his players?

SH: I think we are in danger of making a knee-jerk reaction. The long and the short of it is that Hadden is there for the Six Nations and then at the end of the tournament people will look back and decide what's going to happen. We've all been in situations when we didn't play that well.

JB: We've only won three times in Wales since 1990! We've only won three of our last 26 away games! So this isn't new, what is depressing is the manner of the losses.

CC: Nick De Luca has looked pretty good for Edinburgh where he's getting the ball in his hands early and accurately under Andy Robinson. When he plays for Scotland he's making basic errors.

JB: It was the punters in Cardiff that we spoke to afterwards that were asking, 'what's this all about?' That was the sad thing. It's such a rare thing for Scotland to play a game of such limited ambition.

IM: Is it too early to talk about the new experimental laws which the Super 14 is using for the first time this weekend? Under the new laws Paterson would have had one penalty against Wales not five. Perhaps 30-3 would have been a fairer reflection of the game?

CC: I think that would have been spot on. Wales wasted a lot of opportunities and they aren't even a great side. They left a lot of space outside the No.13 channel and, against England, Iain Balshaw exploited it three or four times in the first half.

JB: I think the big problem now is confidence. A boxer is a little like his trainer, a rugby team is a little like their coach and I worry that Frank Hadden suddenly becomes more introverted and more reserved and then the team goes the same way and aggression goes out of the whole thing. It's all about momentum.

SH: Look at Marc Lievremont, he gave his team carte blanche to play heads up rugby and that is what the players like.

IM: Wouldn't it be nice to see Mike Blair take a quick tap penalty and trust in the players around him?

SH: But it didn't take a genius to know how France were going to play, they were going to go at 100 miles per hour and Scotland weren't ready for it, they weren't up for it. A team on their toes and playing with confidence will react accordingly.

CC: France should have scored more tries.

JB; I don't think Scotland should play that one-dimensional game. I just don't think it's in our make up to play in a smash up game. I don't think any of us played in that style?

IM: I don't think any of us played with such a large pack of forwards.

CC: I think technique is a problem for our forwards.

JB: I totally agree, get Andy Robinson on board.

IM: Why would Robinson join a listing ship?

JB: Because he's a rugby man at heart.

SH: For the same reason that Warren Gatland joined Wales, he saw an opportunity. But I don't think Andy will step in now, things will run their course….(pause)… Frank has had me in for a chat regarding my media stuff and he's asked me not to be too harsh of Dan Parks. At the end of the day I played for Scotland and I took the flack that came with it.

IM: But Parks isn't playing well for Glasgow and he isn't playing well for Scotland. He has to give way to Paterson doesn't he?

CC: Paterson scored a great try from 10 against Italy last year but unless you are playing there week in and week out it is very hard to slip into the role in internationals. You have to be able to kick at that level.

IM: Paterson starts for Gloucester today but if he is selected next weekend does Hadden have to play Hugo Southwell for his kicking option?

JB: He is much faster than people realise.

CC: He picks his lines but he's never been given the chance to come onto the ball from fullback for Scotland.

JB: I worry about the bigger picture. You do feel depressed after a game like Cardiff, deflated. It depends upon whether something can be done in the camp, someone has to light a wee fire, get something started.

CC: Look at the press! Everyone expected Scotland to beat France but why after a World Cup that was very, very average? Argentina were hopeless against us. We only played in the last twenty minutes, we don't mix the game up enough.

IM: Surely Scott has a point when he talks about a simple game plan to revert to when things go wrong?

JB: They probably had that. I can't imagine an international team going onto the field without that. It just wasn't happening for whatever reason.

CC: Ireland may play completely differently against next week. You need to be able to react to what you are up against both in attack and defence.

SH: I think Scotland can react, because of the pro-teams performances in the Magners League and Heineken Cup. Edinburgh were very strong against Leinster in both the games. I think what Robinson has done with Edinburgh is to challenge their mindset.

CC: I think they are scared of him!

JB: Are the coaches too gentle? Scotland have always had aggressive, violent coaches!

CC: We used to play what was in front of us most of the time.

IM: But these days there is so much analysis that you have to go out with a different plan against every opposition so what do we have to do to beat Ireland?

JB: I don't think we can out-muscle them, we've got to out-think them.

SH: Break the game up. Vary it. If the game gets stagnant we have to have options to put the pace and momentum back into the game.

CC: Score tries!

This article was posted on 17-Feb-2008, 08:50 by Hugh Barrow.