Coach Johnson is driving Scotland backwards

IT was Mark Twain who said: “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated”.

But after last weekend’s Calcutta Cup calamity at Murrayfield, a growing number of observers are already writing an obituary for Scottish rugby.

There have been calls for Scott Johnson and his coaches to be sacked, for a radical top- to- bottom independent review of the SRU and the Scottish game, and even for Scotland to be ‘relegated’ from the Six Nations to be replaced by Georgia.

It’s clear there’s a massive strength of feeling about the depths to which Scottish rugby has plummeted after the 20-0 humiliation against England.

Indeed, the backlash has been stronger, even, than when Tonga defeated Scotland in Aberdeen and Andy Robinson departed as coach.

Therefore there are two critical issues at stake.

Firstly, how do Scotland defeat Italy on Saturday and salvage some self-esteem?

And, secondly, what needs to happen in the longer term to sort out the ills of the game north of the border?

Beating Italy is going to be harder than many might think. The Italians were not as bad as the scoreline suggested in Paris, and they pushed Wales hard in their opening game.

After two successive weekends on the road, they’ll welcome the opportunity to be playing in Rome in front of a friendly crowd.

And like vultures preying on a carcass, they will see Scotland as their best opportunity to record a victory in this year’s Championship.

So it’s going to be a difficult afternoon for Scotland, with or without any changes Johnson may or may not make.

And therein lies another problem. It’s hard to know just what the coach is thinking in terms of selection.

Build for the World Cup? Fine. But how come Sean Lamont and Ross Ford are still there, especially given the way they are playing?

Ah, say what few supporters Johnson may have left, but he did drop the captain Kelly Brown. Good move that! To stand a chance, Scotland have to get their setpiece right, and they have to get the right balance in the back row.

They also have to be clear about what tactics they are deploying and they must execute those tactics.

The players are responsible for the last part, the coaches and selectors responsible for the first.

I’m already in a state of depression and, regrettably, I doubt whether my disposition will improve much after the game in Rome as I, for one, have lost confidence in Johnson and Co.

Longer term, it’s hard to know what the best answer is. The game seems to be going backwards.

Foreign coaches and foreign players abound in the professional game, which just can’t help a Scottish cause however you look at it.

Scott Johnson has already been given the responsibility to guide the game forward when Vern Cotter arrives.

Without having had a day in the job, that appointment already looks questionable.