GRAY MATTERS
Brotherly love at the heart of pairing’s success for Scots, says Hines
THEY are a physically imposing pair, even if they are still blessed with their boyish looks. And, it seems, with every passing Test, the Gray brothers are maturing into one of the most effective second-row partnerships in the international game.
Certainly, Jonny and Richie were at their best against Japan last Saturday, destroying the opposition line-out in Scotland’s 26-13 victory in Toyota. It was impressive stuff — and worthy of praise from Nathan Hines, the former Scotland lock.
Hines, who played 77 times for his country, now regularly works with the brothers as part of Vern Cotter’s backroom staff and he has been hugely impressed by the pair since he took up his role prior to last year’s World Cup in England.
Winning quick and accurate line-out ball is vital to the success of any side and the 39-year-old believes Scotland have two of the best in the business in providing it to their team-mates.
‘Jonny and Richie work really well together in the line-out and they communicate better because they are brothers and that makes a big difference,’ said Hines.
‘They’re not like brothers who don’t like being with each other, which is a massive benefit for us. They get on really well, often share rooms together and like being together and that is a very good thing.
‘No matter who you are, brothers or not, the more time you spend playing and training together, the better you are going to be as a second-row pairing.
‘It is good for us that they are brothers, and they are in the sort of consistent form that we can pair them together in the team.’
The pair first took the field together against Argentina on the summer tour of 2014 and, since then, have combined in the Scotland second row on another 11 occasions.
Watching them up close and personal, on matchday, in training and away from the pitch, Hines has been impressed with how they have gone about their business.
‘They are different personalities but come together as a secondrow pairing superbly,’ he said.
‘Jonny calls the line-out and although some may think he is quiet off the pitch, put him into game situations or at training then he is different. He organises every single thing, he wants to sort problems. He voices opinion.
‘He is a top-class player already but even I forget how young he is at times because of his quality. ‘You have the temptation to skim over something you think he has already learned then you remember he is only 22 years old. ‘He is not a ranter or a raver. He is quite laid back, he knows what is going on. He knows his line-outs, he knows what he has to do on the pitch. He is a guy that people follow. He pulls people along with him which is a good quality to have. ‘One of the things he is more confident of doing now is talking to the referee and that has maybe come about since he was named captain of Glasgow Warriors. ‘Nobody can beat big Al Kellock (the former Warriors skipper) at talking to the ref but the more exposure he has of doing that is a good thing. He is getting used to responsibility as captain and calling the line-out with Scotland. ‘Other players, when you make them captain, it affects their performance but it has not happened with Jonny, who has grown as a player and there is more to come from him as he can still get better.’
Richie, who is four years older than his brother and has 58 caps to his 24, is looked on by Hines as someone who is still improving.
‘There is more to come from both of them and, for all his experience already, I think Richie is still getting better as he gets that little bit older,’ continued the Scotland assistant coach.
‘The last year has been one of his best and we saw some good stuff from Richie during the Six Nations. He played well at the weekend for us against Japan and remember that was after playing 80 minutes on the Sunday for Castres against Montpellier.
‘He flew out here to Japan on the Monday, having given himself limited preparation time and still being jetlagged in the heat yet turned in a superb performance.
‘I think there still is development in Richie and he has signed for Toulouse for next season, where there are good players, which will be good for him.
‘At Glasgow, Sale and Castres, he was leaned upon as being the second row and that brought its own responsibility, but in Toulouse he will be in a group where there are other players of his calibre.
‘Richie has learned a lot from being in France, from being in that rugby environment which is far more forward oriented and confrontational than what it is in other countries.
‘Richie already has superb skills, is an athlete and he can run and pass and do all sorts of stuff, but moving to France has helped to develop other aspects of his game.
‘It certainly improved my game as a second row when I was with Clermont and Perpignan as, like Richie is now, I always faced a physical, confrontational game that makes you face up to a tougher environment.’
Both the Gray brothers are likely to feature for Scotland in the second Test against Japan in Tokyo. The only reason they would not start together would be to give Tim Swinson some game time.
‘It is exactly as Vern said, we will be looking to improve,’ said Hines.
‘Japan struggled to get any sort of platform from a line-out and we were pretty good on ours with Richie and Jonny in there.
‘We controlled the set piece and it was just unforced errors at other times that gave them the ball. If we cut down the error rate and keep the same standards in the other areas of the game, we will give ourselves a good chance of winning the second Test.’