Having seen the problem he knew was there close-up, Dean Ryan is in no doubt that today’s RBS 6 Nations match with Italy will be a watershed for Scotland.
The interim forwards coach has brought a frank and analytical eye for his 12-week spell, and last Saturday’s Calcutta Cup loss confirmed his belief that Scotland’s ills lie at the contact area.
Now against the similarly physical Italians he wants a proper competition at the tackle area, or the former army corporal’s going to get serious.
“I’ll be desperately disappointed if I don’t get the response (to Twickenham) on Saturday,” he said. “I’m not saying that’s going to be the all-singing solution, but I want a response because then I know what I’m dealing with. If I don’t get a response we’ll have to look at different things.”
The clear inference, also hinted at by head coach Scott Johnson earlier in the week, is that this is the last chance for a number of the Scots squad.
Ryan particularly wants to ram home that the long-held belief that Scots can beat other teams with guile and flair is a delusion, and that they have to sort the fundamentals of competing at the collisions.
“There were times last week when we could be bumped from the halfway line over the try-line (in defence),” he continued. “That’s unacceptable in test match rugby, and as a squad we have to learn that the contact is the first thing we have to solve and the tactics and the enterprise, of which there was plenty, come secondary.
“The fundamentals of the game are about winning the gain-line battle, getting over it in attack and stopping the opposition getting over in defence.”
With his TV analyst’s eye, Ryan believes avoiding focus on the breakdown means Scotland have relied on trying to move opposition teams about the field with limited success.
“Is there a recent game where Scotland have controlled the opposition?” he asked. “We’ve tried to control them in terms of running the ball everywhere and playing at a high tempo, but that hasn’t proved to be successful.
“We’ve got to stop peddling the illusion that there’s a different way of playing test rugby, that we can win games with five-man lineouts and backs moves. We can’t. Unless the fundamentals of the game are there, and until we get good at them, engage them and make them a priority, everyone we play has the potential to cause us a problem.”
The Italians, Ryan believes, are on a similar journey but have built the platform at the contact area and are now working on the flair the opposite position to which the Scots are in.
“What they’ve done is find some of their tactical bits off the back of the foundation,” said Ryan. “(Fly-half) Orquera is an influential figure in their attacking game, but it’s built off the back of a massive set-piece, a pretty static breakdown, and then they’ve added bits of magic playing a little bit wider than they’ve recently done.
“If we could get that platform right then we are up there rivalling anybody, not just Italy. We saw the ability of Hogg, Maitland and Visser, but that cannot be our primary focus; it has to be our secondary off the back of good engagement.
Ryan describes the Scots squad as “a fantastic group to coach” and that failure is not as a result of lack of effort.
“Players have to respond now. This is the national team, you’re representing your country, you’re at home and given that we had our backsides kicked and it’s been the topic of conversation all week, I’ll be pretty disappointed if we don’t get a response.”
For further build-up to the match, see Saturday’s Courier or try our new digital edition.