It followed in the wake of Hurricane Andy launching himself at the glass in the coaches’ area at the back of the Murrayfield stand.
Robinson may have an English heritage but he follows in the Caledonian tradition of sporting leaders who can not disguise their passion. He is all English bulldog to Fergie’s Scottish terrier. Their barks may be worse than their bite but there will be no volunteers to discover the truth of this theory.
If Sir Alex describes himself as a fitba’ man, then Robinson is a self-confessed “rugby pig”. Yesterday he grunted and squealed for parts of Scotland’s 23-10 victory. He was also elated, disappointed, pleased and downcast. It is the lot of a coach to find his emotions subject to wild changes. Robinson, though, seems to suffer more than most.
He attempts to keep his lip so stiff there is a suspicion he injects it with Viagra. He desperately wants to be the dignified commanding officer. But in the heat of battle, the crude warrior wins the fight between the conflicting desires to be committed to the front line but also to be somewhat above the fray.
In strategy, though, Robinson is a cool, clear-eyed general. As he writhed in his chair in the booth as his charges alternately gained hard yards and gave up possession, it was easy to forget that Robinson had designed yesterday’s victory in the minutest detail and that, mostly, it all went to plan.
This was all about the big guns of the tight five. Johnnie Beattie and Chris Cusiter were the pick of the Scottish players. They may have been the heroes but the battle was won in the trench warfare of scrum and line-out. Scotland had the Fijians bucking and straining in the scrums. They had the visitors confounded at the line-out. This supremacy meant the Scots were continually rumbling towards the Fijian lines. Murray Low had the sort of conspicuous afternoon that props usually leave to the chaps in the backs. Voted man of the match by the sponsors, he was reliable and rampaging in possession and lethal in the scrum.
He epitomised the performance of the Scots. This was not a scintillating, breathtaking victory. But it was solid, substantial and against a team ranked higher than Scotland in the world rankings.
Robinson, freed from the constraints of the coaching booth, came out punching at the press conference. But those oscillating emotions were still there. He praised “a very, very good performance”, rightfully stating that his side had beaten “quality oppos-ition comfortably”. But, then again, he found the performance “frustrating”. But he was “very, very satisfied”. He then conceded Scotland “made too many errors, gave too many penalties” away.
The “rugby pig” seemed in danger of transforming into a “bipolar bear”. But his seemingly contrasting statements merely reflected the reality of the afternoon. Robinson can take great pleasure in winning his first match as coach. But he is an international coach because he is never satisfied with victory.
This was a match Scotland never looked in danger of losing and that was down to Robinson’s insistence that the fundamentals had to be performed well. He is aware that his team have to step up considerably when facing Australia next week. Bafflingly, he put the level of improvement needed at “15%”. He is a coach of precision but this was surely a figure plucked from the Murrayfield air.
But Hurricane Andy blows on. The Fijians lie broken and defeated. There should be an air of hope and expectation about taking on the Wallabies.
Robinson upbraided the media gently, talking about the lack of “smiles on our faces” and not indulging in “doom and gloom”.
Robinson may be a force of nature, he may be a highly proficient coach. But he must learn that the inhabitants of his new land love “doom and gloom”, well, the way a pig loves an overspill at Dalmarnock sewage works.
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