Jackson takes leaf out of O’Gara’s book
Jackson, who has made just 20 starts as a professional rugby player with Glasgow, and three substitute appearances totalling 46 minutes for Scotland, might be more than a little inexperienced in the nuances of out-half play but he’s clearly wise enough to know what players to keep an eye on as he attempts to take the leap from promising talent to accomplished international.
“Ronan has been there for years now and he’s one of those tens who’s got great game management,” said the softly-spoken 23-year-old.
“His kicking game is second to none, well expect maybe Dan Parks, and he’s been great for Ireland down the years.
“The qualities he has are the things I’ve been working on.
“Since the start of the season, I’ve got a good run of games under my belt and with that, you get more of an understanding of the game management side of things.
“It’s a big thing as a young 10 to be able to control the game and while I’m by no means the finished article, I feel I’ve come on a lot this year in terms of that management and hopefully I can keep improving and keep going in the right direction.”
Jackson has already faced O’Gara this year. He started at out-half in Glasgow’s game against Munster at Musgrave Park on January 8, an encounter that the home side narrowly won 22-20. O’Gara kicked 17 points to Jackson’s 10 that evening in Cork but the youngster felt that, all told, he gave a decent account of himself.
“I think I gave him quite a good game. Well, that’s what I felt, so hopefully I won’t be shy going head to head with him.”
Jackson’s selection for Sunday’s game may seem like a knee-jerk reaction from Andy Robinson and his backs coach, Gregor Townsend, after Scotland’s toothless attacking performance against Wales.
He has, however, has been on the coaching team’s radar for quite a while.
At the start of the 2009/10 rugby season, Robinson held the firm intention of blooding the player in the 2010 Six Nations but a shoulder injury picked up while scoring a try against Munster at Firhill in September 2009 put Jackson on the sideline for three months and erected a road-block on his development.
By the time he returned to action later that year, he remained far too raw to pitch into northern hemisphere’s equivalent of tribal warfare.
A further 12 months or so refining his game in the Magners League and Heineken Cup, however, seems to have done the trick, with Robinson unequivocal in his view that the player is ready.
“With the rugby he’s had over the past couple of seasons, he’s played really flat and attacked the gameline. He can run himself and he has a good passing game too.
“The challenge for him is to execute this on the international stage. Starting, he’s got to organise the whole team and in that sense I believe his communication has improved. That’s why we’ve given him the start.”
Robinson, in a clever move grounded in years of coaching experience, has handed the goal-kicking duties to Chris Paterson on Sunday in order to take any undue pressure off his young out-half.
It’s a decision that leaves Jackson free to concentrate on getting Scotland’s constipated back-line into some kind of motion.
“He’s a young, confident player who gets the back line moving,” said Sean Lineen, his coach at Glasgow, this week. “He lets the back line breathe. He’s ready. He’s got that in-built confidence; he’ll have a go, which is important, and is a threat.”
A down-to-earth character, Jackson’s excited about his first Scottish start, without going over the top about it. “It’s the moment you dream about really,” he said of being told of his selection. “It was a little bit surreal at the start but once the idea bedded in that I was starting, I just can’t wait for Sunday, it’s just a shame it’s a day longer away than normal.”
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