Shape of things to come
www.fijitimes.com - Scotland on Sunday - Sunday, November 15, 2009
Fiji 10 Scotland 23
THIS was billed as a spectacular welcome to the dawn of the new-look Scotland.
There was a new coach, new newcomers, new skipper and the new sound of Andy Robinson spontaneously combusting in the goldfish bowl for much of the second half.
And no wonder the man charged with reviving Scotland's fortunes was feeling the heat – if there was much that was new yesterday, the same old frustrations were there in spades.
If there were only a limited number of pointers to the long-term shape Robinson's new Caledonian order will take, it was hugely refreshing that he was willing to blood a whole raft of players.
If he couldn't match Fiji, who had five new caps on the pitch and the same number on the bench, this was nonetheless the most significant mass initiation of Scotland players since Derrick Grant fielded half a dozen debutants in Jeremy Campbell-Lamerton, Finlay Calder, David Sole, the Hastings brothers and Matt Duncan for what turned out to be a momentous Five Nations win over France in 1986.
Yesterday wasn't as drastic, or as successful for that matter, as that seminal 1986 match, which proved to be a watershed in Scotland's fortunes.
But Robinson's first match at the helm was nonetheless unprecedented in recent years.
As well as centre Alex Grove and tighthead prop Moray Low winning their first cap and first start respectively, flanker Richie Vernon and loosehead Kyle Traynor came on, with 20 and two minutes remaining, to win their first caps.
Even without looking at Robinson's successful rehabilitation of Glasgow retreads Al Kellock, Chris Cusiter and Johnnie Beattie, all of whom had been overlooked at every opportunity by Robinson's predecessor, the arrival of this young quartet surely constituted a red-letter moment.
In a match dominated by the short-term imperative to win against a nation that knocked Wales out of the last World Cup, Robinson can at least point to a bold selection policy that will lay the basis for his future sides.
That's particularly the case up front where the three new forwards could, along with second row prodigy Richie Gray, be in the mix for years to come.
That is particularly true of Moray Low, the burly Elgin man who plies his trade with Glasgow and had the tricky job of filling Euan Murray's shoes yesterday. This was the 24-year-old's first start, although he won his first cap as a replacement for Geoff Cross in Wales when the Edinburgh prop was poleaxed and yellow-carded on his debut.
Fiji forwards coach Mike Brewer – who filled the same role with Scotland this time last year – reckoned Low wasn't ready back then, but that definitely wasn't the case yesterday, as Brewer conceded. "Moray put both our loosehead props under real pressure," said the Kiwi afterwards.
"He's improved a hell of a lot and he looks like he can improve a lot more. He is a more natural rugby player than Geoff (Cross]."
Whether Low was worth his Man of the Match award would make a good bar-stool debate, but his huge impact on a game that was deliberately structured around the set-piece was undeniable.
If Scotland ruled the lineout, their domination of the scrum was just as emphatic, with Low taking a leading role.
After being sought out by referee Chris White and warned before the second scrum to "keep it up", he did just that.
At the first big scrum after ten minutes on the Scotland line, Low held firm, and when Scotland were down the other end after almost half an hour, it was his scrummaging which won a penalty that Phil Godman duly kicked.
He had Alefoso Yalayalatabua in such difficulties that the latter was hauled off, not that it made much difference as Low piled on regardless.
From the attempted scrum pushover just after half-time that set up Graeme Morrison's try to the they-will-not-pass rearguard scrum action on Scotland's line in the dying seconds, Low was resolute and immovable.
If there was one downside, it was the lack of the destructive little sorties he usually makes. Devotees of the big fella will know that for Glasgow he'll regularly go for a little trundle, invariably making a few hard yards before falling over knackered and setting up a ruck.
Despite what Low called "a couple of early carries and bumps", there was little of that sort of nonsense out there yesterday, or at least not until seven minutes from the end when he got a sight of the whitewash, snorted like a bull eyeing an intact china shop and set off at what passes for pace in the world of the front row union.
But the flashy flourishes were surplus to requirements yesterday – if his performance was to be judged on whether he did the bread-and-butter stuff effectively, this was as assured a first start in international rugby as the prop could have hoped for.
Much the same goes for Kyle Traynor, the Edinburgh loosehead who came on with 20 minutes remaining.
If Fiji thought life would get easier once Allan Jacobsen hobbled off, they were mistaken; Traynor was even more imposing in the scrum, even if he didn't show up much in the loose.
If the stage and tactics were made for Low and Traynor, the same wasn't the case with Alex Grove, yet the centre from Worcester did enough to suggest that he has a promising international future ahead of him.
He arrived at Murrayfield with a reputation for physicality that he lived up to admirably.
He went looking for work from the off and a couple of his early hits, particularly when he dumped hapless Fijian fullback Josh Matavesi three times in as many minutes, were eye-wateringly intense, one of them when chasing a high ball forcing a penalty, which was kicked by Godman.
"I was conscious of getting into the game early on," said the 21-year-old outside centre, "I didn't want to wait ten or 15 minutes to get my hands on the ball or to put in some early big hits.
"I expected to be hit hard by them and I wasn't disappointed. I was really struck by the physicality of the collisions and was a bit wobbly after the first tackle although you have to shrug that off and get on with it. I did get my own back, though."
Although Grove got little joy in attack, he did at least display good vision and soft hands when he got a chance, his deft inside pass to Rory Lamont after 25 minutes almost leading to a try.
Just to underline that he has the right temperament for the roughhouse that is international rugby, Grove squared up to monumental Fijian second row Wame Lewaravu before the red mist lifted and he performed a hasty tactical retreat.
In a utilitarian contest in which the only yardstick was to come away with a victory in Robinson's first match in charge, the contribution of the debutants was a welcome bonus.
In time, it may even come to overshadow the expediency of carving out a win that was neither particularly entertaining nor enjoyable, even if it was very necessary
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