COTTER’S CALL TO ARMS
Scotland head coach fires up his troops as they prepare to take on the Wizards of Oz
FOR a man not prone to Churchillian flourishes, Vern Cotter certainly has his moments. Given the odds stacked against Scotland at Twickenham tomorrow, a few more inspirational battle cries between now and kick- off wouldn’t go amiss.
Scotland’s head coach, a man whose natural exuberance settings most definitely do not go all the way to 11, sounded downright defiant as he named his starting XV to take on Australia in the closing quarter-final of the World Cup this weekend.
Sure, without even waiting to be asked, he volunteered the fact that the Wallabies are now emerging as favourites to win the competition, let alone a last- eight encounter with a side seven places below them in the world rankings. The Kiwi did nothing to dispel the idea that the Aussies have been the best team of the tournament so far.
He also conceded that his own boys, having been bounced around at the breakdown by the brutal Springboks, will find it almost impossible to prevent Michael Cheika’s men — even without David Pocock — from gaining momentum in this crucial area of the game, admitting: ‘We probably won’t stop them all of the time, if we’re being honest.’
What the guv’nor of this group said next, however, reveals everything about the qualities most dear to Cotter’s rugby soul.
‘We’ve got guys with big hearts,’ he declared. ‘We will scramble and work hard for each other.
‘There will be times when they’ll be on top of us and, hopefully, we can get on top of them in other periods. That’ll be a game of rugby.
‘If we work hard for each other, get off the ground and scramble just to stay in, stay in again — just through grit, determination and character — then we won’t be too far away.
‘There is a team against us who are very good, probably one of the best in the world. But there are opportunities within the game to have a bit of fun, too.
‘Every team has its strengths and every team has, not weaknesses maybe, but perhaps areas that can be exploited.
‘Our job going into this game is to look for opportunities. That’s what we’re going to focus on, what we can do better — but at the same time finding new opportunities.
‘That’s no different to any other team you play. It’s a World Cup quarter-final. We need to be as accurate as we can be. If we do that, we can find those chances.’
If it’s stretching things to suggest that Scotland will bring absolutely nothing to this contest beyond blood, sweat and tears, the need for unyielding commitment should be a given at this stage of the tournament.
Controversial suspensions to star performers Jonny Gray and Ross Ford — ‘That’s just politics,’ said Cotter, sourly — make it hard to argue with the bookies cutting the odds of an Australian victory to 10-1 on.
Yet, questioned about t he psychology of being such rank outsiders, Scotland’s stoney-faced leader sighed, stumbled over a few half- formed answers and then simply said: ‘The game’s the game, the pitch is the same size. You go through a strategy and have a look.
‘I don’t know if it’s something that’s spoken about. It (being underdogs) may have an effect. But we’re just looking at this as an opportunity.
‘We were very happy to make the quarter-finals but very quickly moved the focus to this game.
‘We want to be there next week in the semis, too. That determination is reflected in the attitude at training and the boys know they’ll need to be on top of their game.
‘We’ve seen clips of Australia and know we have to improve our defensive performance. Once we get our hands on the ball, we need to be effective — and score points every time.
‘Australia are a team that I feel is most dangerous at the end of a game. They’ve pulled away from good teams right at the end, so any minor lack of concentration, we’ll pay the price. The big focus is on maintaining pressure
‘They haven’t lost a game yet. They’ re the form team. Some people have made them favourites not only to beat us, but to actually go on and win the World Cup. They’re in a comfortable position.
‘You’ve got to try and stop them stringing three phases of play together. They build momentum and they’re very strong on one-vones. They’re strong individuals all across the park.
‘They’re quick to breakdowns and they’re aggressive in how they fight for the loose ball. So it’s just about trying to check them as quickly as we can behind the gain line. It’s a real challenge for our guys.’
The loss of Pocock will affect the Wallabies, no question, but his chief partner-in-snaffling, Michael Hooper, is hardly a slouch in stealing ball on the deck. Returning No 8 Ben McCalman is also no in experienced whelp.
All over t he pitch, the Australians boast a wealth of rugby nous to go with some pretty obvious talent. If the game becomes tight, they will back themselves to get the job done.
Scotland? Three of the guys coming into the starting XV tomorrow — Fraser Brown, Blair Cowan and Peter Horne — have just 14 caps apiece, while last lock standing, Tim Swinson, can only boast a couple more. The expansive but less physically imposing Horne, we are told, was always going to start in place of the more hefty Matt Scott — whose back injury means Richie Vernon takes his place on the bench. Like all of the players drafted in, Horne will hardly lack incentive. Blood and thunder plus a willingness to take risks with the ball can only carry a team so far, however. At some point, if t hey want to avoid a heavy beating, they will need to discover an accuracy along with a collective understanding that enables the whole to be greater than the sum of its parts.
Areas of concern abound, not least the decision to pick both Cowan and John Hardie instead of partnering one of that pair with Josh Strauss — a call made before Pocock’s withdrawal from the Aussie starting XV.
If you’re nervous about what might go wrong tomorrow, that’s understandable.
As a group, Scotland will look to their increasingly impressive captain, Greig Laidlaw. And they’ll lean on Cotter (left), whose air of relaxed determination cannot all be just a front for the TV cameras.
Bringing some levi ty to proceedings yesterday, he responded to a question about the need to improve on last weekend’s shambolic restarts against the Samoans by provoking laughter with a deadpan: ‘We did a couple, yeah.
‘ They did us a favour, to be honest. They showed us that we didn’t adapt. It has been a big focus for the players, a good wake-up call in many respects.
‘We imagine that Australia have other things to surprise us with, as well, so we have to be wide awake, that’s for sure.’
From the first minute to the last, and in every heartbeat in between, Scotland will need to be sharp, alert, focused and fired up.
Individually, they’ll each need to play the game of their l i ves. Collectively, it is going to take something even bigger than that — a perfectly-pitched performance without flaw, to upset the odds.
Asked yesterday if, during his time at the helm, he had seen a Scotland performance good enough to beat this Wallabies side, Cotter paused f or a moment before saying: ‘We’re hoping we’re going to put one in on Sunday.’
Not exactly a blood- curdling pledge to fight them in the rucks and in the mauls, at the breakdown and in the open field.
Maybe he’s saving his best material, his very best and most inspirational battle cry, for the depths of a Twickenham dressing room tomorrow.