The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Tough time ahead for Scots
Afew questions as we enter the 2014 RBS 6 Nations, with not a little trepidation… Will the first win be the only one? A colleague of mine, not usually given to pessimism, suggested before the opening game of the A utumn Internationals that Japan might be the only team Scotland beat in the entire 2013-14 season.
This is certainly the tougher series for the Scots; England and France at home, Ireland, Italy and Wales away.
Given the Scots’ record away from Murrayfield in the Six Nations (one win in the last 17 matches, only two wins in the last 40 years at the five away venues now being used), it maybe comes down to whether they can beat the two best resourced teams in world rugby on what is presently a dog of a home pitch.
Storms on February 8 and March 8 to match those fabled ones of 2000 and 2006 would help.
Kelly Brown at 7? And for how long?
Scott Johnson’s decision to view Scotland’s Stakhanovite skipper as an out-and-out openside creates a potential controversy where there was none.
He wants a 7 that can play an all-round game instead of what he privately calls a “one-trick pony” of a specialist. But to suggest Brown won’t be in the side unless as a 7 almost invites the question if the Scots struggle.
If the Scots have a glaring deficiency under Johnson, it’s been not competing at the breakdown, which was basically surrendered during the 2013 event.
Who finishes the championship as Scotland 10?
The perennial problem position for Scotland. Every time any head coach seems to decide on a consistent starter, the player in question has a crisis in confidence.
My view is Duncan Weir should get a lengthy shot at the 10 shirt, even allowing for some blips he’s had for Glasgow in recent weeks. Ruiradh Jackson has had plenty chances, Greig Tonks has played just five games at the position for Edinburgh… would Johnson or any coach take a risk like that? A nd has the Stuart Hogg solution been ruled out entirely?
Does the turmoil in Welsh domestic rugby finally affect the national team?
Probably not. Warren Gatland doesn’t seem to be overly concerned with the disputes between the regions and the WRU and the continuing drain of players to England and France, and, seeing some of the young talent coming through in Wales, you can understand that. Under him the squad has always seemed above the pettiness that infects Welsh rugby.
One of many fine jobs Gatland has done with Wales has been papering over strength-in-depth issues but with the new rules they may be under pressure there this season.
Are Ireland inspired by the All Black near-miss or was it the last gasp of an ageing team?
There’s some fresh talent coming through in Ireland, but the backbone of the team isn’t getting any younger. The absolute worst game to get them is first up, when the gruelling nature of the championship hasn’t begun to take its toll.
It’s also hard to imagine them repeating the extreme intensity of the first hour against New Zealand again, and a long campaign with a few key injuries could land them in a situation just like last year’s, when they ended up points difference off the wooden spoon.
Are France changing coaches again?
A nother season anything like last year’s debacle, Philippe St A ndre is surely for the chop. With more raw talent than anyone else in the championship, the last place France should be finishing is last. How do England blow it again? Quite possibly first up in Paris, on the grounds that you never quite know what the French will do on any given weekend, and especially the first one. One defensive mistake — and one moment of brilliance by the the nun heralded Scott Williams — cost them the title in 2012. A Welsh tsunami wiped them out last year.
Ireland and Wales at home? It should surely be an English championship.
Is Sergio Parisse, arguably the best rugby player in Europe, a liability for Italy?
This is an ongoing theory of mine; Parisse is as good an all-round athlete as there is in the game but he tries to do everything himself — it almost seems he feels compelled to do so.
Italy have other decent players who if given their chance could make a difference and, crucially, grow within their roles in the team. But they’re the oldest team in the championship and there’s not a huge influx coming in.
Exactly how do we waste more time in modern rugby?
We got rid of the endlessly re-set scrums… well, I’d actually hold a final judgment on that.
Now even the props and hookers are hanging around, drumming their fingers while most referees — those not named Nigel Owens — refer every marginal decision to the TV match official and his additional powers. It’s getting near five extra minutes on every match while some old bloke pores over stop-frame footage like a conspiracy theorist watching the Zapruder film. Please, enough.
Does Big Vern finally arrive with his CV complete?
Last year the SRU held off on the announcement that they had appointed Vern Cotter as head coach until after the Heineken Cup Final, hoping to unveil him as the triumphant coach of the double-winning European and French champions. It turned out he was neither, and eventually he wasn’t even the Scotland coach for another year, which was a bit embarrassing.
A year on, Clermont-A u vergne are looking awfully good on both domestic and Heineken fronts. When Cotter does come to Murrayfield, might he be all that was advertised? Previous “chokes” notwithstanding… Who wins? Hotels in Cardiff doubled their prices for the final weekend’s game against Scotland, so there’s certainly no lack of confidence for another slam for Gatland and Wales.
However, I reckon they end up sharing the championship with England, one defeat each. Scotland? One win, in Rome.