Hines is not buying into hype just yet
THE new-found confidence within Scottish rugby will count for nothing unless the national team delivers in the Six Nations Championship, according to Nathan Hines, the assistant coach.
Morale is high after Glasgow and Edinburgh both qualified for the quarter-finals of the two European competitions, while Scotland won two out of their three matches in November. Several respected figures within the game, including former coach Jim Telfer and 1999 championship-winning back Alan Tait, have insisted this is the best Scots side since the turn of the century.
But Hines warned that good results and a positive frame of mind are no guarantee of success either against Ireland at Murrayfield today or in the subsequent matches in the tournament. “It’s just opinion, isn’t it?,” he said. “Until we do something it doesn’t make a difference what anyone thinks.
“The fact is we haven’t done anything yet. Until we can prove we can win on Saturday and win games back to back it’s still just opinion and it doesn’t mean anything. We just look at what we’ve done; look at what we need to do. It’s not about what people think about us outside the room.”
Having downplayed expectations, Hines insisted that the team’s target for the championship could not be higher. “Win every game. That’s the goal during the week – to put ourselves in the best position to win games, make sure we’re astute tactically, we can eliminate errors and that everyone knows their job. If we can take that confidence into the game, that will help us.”
Both Scotland and Ireland reported a clean bill of health yesterday. Today’s match kicks off at 2.25pm.