Robinson must find enough glitter to put a creditable squad together

Wednesday 24 October 2012

ALL through his career as a head coach, Andy Robinson has had to face the allegation that he is a great coach but a lousy selector.

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Stuart McAllister

Today, it is his skill in the latter role that is going to matter as he works his way through the destruction of another Scottish Heineken Cup campaign and tries to find enough fit and in-form players to challenge New Zealand, the world champions, in two and a half weeks.

The true test of a national selector is to spot the gems hidden among the morass of under-performing teams, and somehow Robinson has to find enough glitter in the debris of the Glasgow and Edinburgh campaigns to put together a credible squad.His first big dilemma is finding enough fit players in key positions. Prop and scrum-half have been on the horizon as looming problems for weeks, but lock has suddenly sprung up and joined them as a potential headache made trickier by the uncertainty over leading contenders.At the start of the month, it was a case of "perm two starters and a replacement out of four or five contenders". Now it is "who will be available". Richie Gray twisted an ankle playing the first round of European games so he won't be able to train at next week's camp in St Andrews and is touch and go for the first international but should make the squad anyway. Jim Hamilton, meanwhile, came off with a rib problem last weekend and is still unsure how bad it is.Al Kellock and Tom Ryder are still going strong at Glasgow, but the injury concerns may open a spot for another back-up player with Grant Gilchrist, the Edinburgh lock, probably ahead of Tim Swinson and Fraser McKenzie, who have both been in-and-out of their club starting XVs.Out in the threequarters, Robinson's back three options have gone from glut to famine. Rory Lamont has not played since he broke a leg in the spring, but he has now been joined by his brother Sean, while Nikki Walker, who had expected to be back in contention by now, has demonstrated the meaning of the phrase "injury nightmare" by following the pre-World Cup tear to his knee ligaments with a shoulder problem and is now sidelined with a hamstring tweak.The good news is that Tim Visser still seems to be confident that he will be back from a bruised leg sooner rather than later and Max Evans returned to training at Castres yesterday after recovering from a cracked rib. Since they were the first choices during the summer tour, they are likely to be automatic picks against the All Blacks – assuming there's no more damage.Robinson also has issues at scrum-half where Chris Cusiter, the only experienced player in that role playing for a top division side, pinged a shoulder and is out of consideration. Rory Lawson and Mike Blair are both likely to feature despite playing for second division clubs, but watch for a squad call-up for Henry Pyrgos, the Glasgow scrum-half.Elsewhere, it is form that is posing the problems, with the Heineken Cup exposing just how off the pace many players still are. Greig Laidlaw and Matt Scott were stand-out performers on the summer tour, but even before Laidlaw pinged a rib against Saracens, neither was looking the part in Edinburgh's campaign.Even if Laidlaw returns to action this week, he has little time to find his form. If he doesn't then, with Duncan Weir injured, the slot falls to Ruaridh Jackson, who is playing well enough, but only since the goalkicking duties were handed to somebody else – a comfort zone he may not get with Scotland.Fortunately, when it comes to back row, the exile contingent can come to Robinson's aid. Kelly Brown is certain to be back, and may well get the captaincy that he was denied only by a broken ankle earlier this year, while Al Strockosch is not only a Robinson favourite but has featured in every game for Perpignan since moving there in the summer. As the blackest of dark horses, Johnnie Beattie has overcome some early injury issues and has put in a couple of decent Heineken Cup performances for Montpelier – Robinson may want to have a look at how he is shaping up.The good thing about this week is that Robinson only has to pick a training squad, so he can afford to name the injured players, and can also put in some of those struggling for form in the hope that they spring back to their best.He has a lot of tight judgments to make; the chance, maybe, to show that those who see that as his biggest weakness are wrong – or to confirm them in their analysis.

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Robinson must find enough glitter to put a creditable squad together

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