Johnnie Beattie doesn’t mince words when he considers how Scottish Rugby can start to pull itself out of crisis and it all starts at 2.30pm in Rome tomorrow.
“We have to do our jobs right, it’s quite simple,” said the No 8, restored to the side for the RBS 6 Nations clash with Italy as a somewhat controversial replacement for David Denton.
“We haven’t done our jobs right in the last two games at all. The squad put in a decent shift for the first 40 minutes against Ireland, but we have been dross for the last game and a half we have played together.”
That’s the bottom line for Beattie, but the thoughtful and often outspoken character too outspoken an individual for a number of coaches in the past often considers where the general direction of the game in his homeland is headed.
“In terms of that highlighting the shortcomings of the structure, I don’t know (what results so far have shown),” said Beattie, presently with Montpellier in France but set to join Scotland team-mates Richie Gray and Max Evans as Castres next season.
“I believe our squad is capable of going to Italy and winning, but even if we do in general terms I believe and I’ve believed it for a long time that we could change structure in Scotland and we could do things better.
“I try to explain our Scottish system to people in France, and they don’t believe it.
“In saying that, every country has its flaws, the French proclaim that they have this fantastic league, but their fantastic league is 80% foreigners.
“We are a small country, but the question is how we get the best from our population. We’re like the size of Yorkshire playing the whole of the rest of England and that’s tough, but we’ve got to look at how we can get the best out of that situation.”
Beattie is one of those who came entirely through the Scottish system, but he’s still perturbed even now how much of it was down to luck.
“I’ve been really lucky in that I came through I got a chance because Jonny Petrie, my skipper at the time, injured his shoulder and I got to play 20 games for Glasgow in the Celtic League when I was 18,” he recalled.
“There are heaps of other guys who will never get that chance.
“There was a decision made at under-18 between me and another boy. I got pushed ahead and he got left behind.
“That guy didn’t get chance. He went to university, did something else, lost interest in rugby and didn’t continue. The question is how we keep these guys in the game.
“When I left Glasgow it created a spot for Ryan Wilson. There is a young lad called Adam Ashe, who I think has every chance to be fantastic, but he hasn’t had the chance to play because there are other guys there with a bit more experience. How do you have a tournament that allows guys like Adam to play?”
Beattie doesn’t think it’s the quality of talent that Scotland produces that is the problem, but the opportunity to develop them.
“We produce guys like Chris Hoy and Andy Murray in other sports; in rugby we produce players like Stuart Hogg and Richie Gray who go on Lions tours,” he points out.
“I just don’t think we are getting the best out of ourselves in terms of the number of kids playing the game and coming through. If we widen our base, make it as big as we can, we will have better talent and be in a better state at the top.
“You’ve got to hope that you put in a plan that in 10 or 15 years time, the amount of kids who are actually playing the game at a higher level can actually compete in an international team.”
For this weekend, Beattie has avoided most of the flak after the Calcutta Cup game by returning to France for a club game, and believes the squad are capable of turning that disappointment around.
“There has been a depressing feeling around Scottish rugby at the moment, but for me it’s exciting to come back into the team and try to be part of the group that does the job properly in Rome,” he said.
“Mathematically, you’re not going to win any games if you are defending for 80% of the time. It’s just not possible.
“If we can hold ball, play a bit better, test them, organise ourselves, go forward and try and crack them then there is no reason why we cannot go and get a win.”