Robinson urges Scots to be bold
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:59
Scotland coach Andy Robinson has urged his side to take the attack to Ireland as they look to end the Six Nations with a much-needed flourish in Dublin on Saturday.
Defeat will condemn Scotland to the dreaded wooden spoon and leave them still searching for a first Six Nations win under former England boss Robinson.
They've twice, however, come desperately close to a morale-boosting victory this season, leading Wales in Cardiff heading into the closing stages before a crazy final few minutes led to a 31-24 loss.
And last weekend Scotland saw flyhalf Dan Parks twice hit the post in an agonising 15-15 Calcutta Cup draw with old rivals England at Murrayfield.
Now they wrap up the tournament away to an Ireland side bidding for a fifth Triple Crown in seven years and buoyed by the additional emotional boost of what will be their final match at Croke Park before they return across Dublin to their traditional Lansdowne Road base.
However, Robinson said caution would do Scotland few favours this weekend.
"The way to win away from home is to go out and take the opposition on," he said on Tuesday.
"If we sit back and watch Ireland play, they'll be pretty devastating.
"We've got to take the game to Ireland, as we did against Wales.
"We did very well against Wales in our approach to the game.
"We've got to take the game to Ireland and challenge them to defend - more than the Irish are defending - on the back foot.
"If we weren't creating chances then we'd have major problems.
"We've got lots of improvements to be made but we're on the right journey."
Last weekend's fixture with England represented the fifth time in seven games under Robinson that Scotland have failed to score a try.
But the coach, who put back his team announcement from Tuesday to Wednesday in a bid to give injured players additional recovery time, was adamant Scotland's 'white line fever' could be cured in a few days.
"For me, issues can be solved in a week," he said.
"We need a little bit more patience, we need to be able to keep the shape and have players really working hard to run hard onto the ball."
And he added Scotland had paid for a lack of precision against England. "When we got close to the line, we got very narrow in the way that we played," Robinson said.
"Probably, our workrate wasn't as good as it could've been and our accuracy wasn't good, which is thinking clearly with the key decisions to make."
By contrast a ruthless Ireland ran in three tries against Wales during a 27-12 victory last weekend.
"They played with pace and width," said Robinson.
"They have probably the best finisher in the business in [wing] Tommy Bowe.
"He's on fire at the moment. They know how to win, that's the key aspect and what we aspire to be like."
AFP
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