Robinson lauds Irish back row as Scotland spring surprises

ANDY ROBINSON has declared Ireland’s back row to be the best in the northern hemisphere as his Scotland side attempt to get their Six Nations campaign back on track at Murrayfield on Sunday.

The Scotland coach has made seven changes in personnel, and one positional switch, from the side that lost to Wales in Edinburgh in their last outing. Robinson sprung a surprise in selecting 23-year-old out-half Ruaridh Jackson for his first start, as well as asking Sean Lamont to fill in at inside-centre. But the former England coach knows his side need to counter the yardage threat of Seán O’Brien, David Wallace and Jamie Heaslip if they’re to emerge victorious.

“Ireland’s back-row has the best ball carriers in European rugby,” said the 46-year-old. “Seán O’Brien is a wrecking ball with the ball in hand. He just runs and runs and runs. We’ve got to be able to put this guy on the floor. It’s the same kind of thing with David Wallace and Jamie Heaslip. It’s a big ask for us to keep a lid on their ball-carrying abilities. We’ll need a huge defensive performance.”

Robinson, a little mischievously, also suggested the line-out would be a key area in Sunday’s game. In Scotland’s balloon-popping of Ireland’s Triple Crown party at Croke Park last March, the Scottish second-row pairing of Jamie Hamilton and Alaistair Kellock did something of a job to snuff out the impact of Paul O’Connell and Donncha O’Callaghan.

“You’ve got to think back to last year and think about how the line-out battle went and you can imagine what O’Connell and O’Callaghan are saying about that because we did perform well at the line-out at Croke Park,” said Robinson who selected Glasgow’s Richie Gray ahead of Leinster’s Nathan Hines, primarily because of the latter’s proficiency out of touch.

“They (O’Connell and O’Callaghan) are highly respected players but for us, the line-out battle is huge. I was happy with our line-out performance against Wales and Sunday, that battle is going to be a massively important area for us.”

On the selection of Jackson, a number 10 who likes to take the ball flat — in complete contrast to Dan Parks, the man he has replaced in the starting line-up — Robinson suggested that it was an easy call. “I thought it was time for his first start,” said the coach. “If results had been different, then this change might not have happened but we’ve had the results and now he has the opportunity to perform. I’m really excited about seeing how he does.”

The decision to play Sean Lamont at number 12, despite having never played there for club or country, appears somewhat perplexing, particularly considering the familiarity, and indeed potency, of Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy in Ireland’s midfield. But in outlining his thinking behind the call, Robinson made some sense. “Sean is starting at centre because we believe we need to establish some ‘go-forward’ in our game,” he explained. “He’s a big ball carrier and we want to get him in the game. We don’t want him just carrying out from deep, we want him in the front line running hard and giving us the opportunity to be able to play off of that.”

The lessons have been absorbed from that feeble 24-6 defeat to Wales. “I’ve looked at the game nine times now, and the start doesn’t get any better. What is hurting us is the way we’re starting games, particularly unforced errors in our own half. If we continue to do that, we’ll get beaten by any team. We have to make fewer errors.”