Wales 27 Scotland 13: Andy Robinson convinced Scots are on the right road
Scotland head coach Andy Robinson fervently believes Scotland are on the way to playing winning rugby despite the loss to Wales.
Scotland players' faces say it all after another strong performance is wasted.
- By Steve Scott, rugby correspondent
- Published in the Courier : 13.02.12
- Published online : 13.02.12 @ 09.24am
In the wake of their fourth successive defeat, Robinson confirmed that defence coach Graeme Steadman will not have his contract renewed at the end of this season but refused to elaborate on the decision or the future of attack coach Gregor Townsend.
However, the head coach made his belief in his team very clear.
''I'm really proud of the team today and the way we are playing now, in my belief, is the way we will start to win games,'' said the coach in the aftermath of the 6 Nations loss at the Millennium Stadium, pinpointing two key errors by Alan Jacobsen before half-time and Chris Cusiter after the break.
''You look at the small margins of this game. We went toe-to-toe with them in the first half, we didn't keep our composure on the Welsh line just before half-time when we had to score points and didn't.
''It was a clear opportunity for us, knocking on just before half-time. We then put ourselves under pressure with the mistake on the second-half kick-off and we drop off the tackle for Cuthbert to score.''
The coach insisted that his team are ''playing a lot of good rugby and doing good things but coming out on the wrong end of the scoreline.''
He added: ''There's still belief there, and it's showed in the 20 minutes when we were down 27-6, and I won't fault the players' attitude. It's the endeavour they're putting in that makes me proud of them. But it's all about winning games — I won't shy away from that.''
The coach paid tribute to Greig Laidlaw's debut at fly-half and the performance of teenager Stuart Hogg, who came on after only 16 minutes and performed well.
Laidlaw, who scored all of Scotland's points with a try, two penalties and a conversion, said the game was ''frustrating''.
''It seems like we're going over the same old points,'' said the Edinburgh 10. ''I think we had plenty of good play but we don't take chances, have 10 minutes of madness and suddenly we're chasing the game.
''I enjoyed the game. I felt I got the backline going pretty well and I'll always remember my first try for Scotland, but I missed the tackle on Alex Cuthbert (for Wales' first try) that I should have made and I'm disappointed in that.''
Rumours circulating in Cardiff on Saturday night that Steadman, defence coach for the last three years, was to be replaced in May were confirmed by Robinson.
''Graeme will be seeing out his contract and it will not be renewed. But I'm not going to discuss individual contracts here,'' said the coach.
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