Along the way, in the space of four days, the Scots won their first two games, beating underdogs Romania and Georgia. Coach Andy Robinson admits the victories weren’t impressive, but his side achieved its goal of winning both matches and leaving New Zealand’s southernmost city with nine points in Pool B.
So it was mission accomplished, Robinson says, regardless of what the critics think.
“It was never going to be pretty with the weather conditions but I thought we did really well and got plenty of territory,” Robinson said after Scotland’s 15-6 win over Georgia on a rainy Wednesday night. “There was a lot of talk from a lot of people, but the key was for us to get four (competition) points.
“I set the management team a target, this being our first phase of our campaign, to leave Invercargill with nine points, and we achieved that.”
Phase 2 will be the tough part. Although it now has 11 days before it takes on Argentina on Sept. 25. And then Scotland plays England on Oct. 1 at Auckland’s Eden Park, its final match in Pool B.
“In terms of winning again, it was a good performance, it was the ultimate aim for us,” Robinson said as the team packed for a flight Thursday to Wellington, where they play the Pumas.
All of the scoring Wednesday came from the boot of the flyhalves — Scotland’s Dan Park kicked four penalties and a dropped goal, while his opposite Merab Kvirikashvili landed two goals.
It was the sixth tryless match in Rugby World Cup history, and only the second in pool play, the only other being Australia 9-3 win over then Western Samoa in 1991.
Reminded that the match was tryless, Robinson sarcastically replied: “We scored four against Romania (a 34-24 win) and got criticized.”
The England-born coach, though, see a lot of things to work on.
“One thing we want to do is improve ball in hand,” he said. “We are pleased with our shape at the moment. We have just got to get into the rhythm when we play Argentina.”
Rory Lawson, who improved to 4-0 when he’s Scotland captain with the win over Georgia, said momentum will be important in the match against Argentina, despite the lengthy layoff.
“We know the challenges that will come but the important thing for us now is to keep building,” he said. “We want to go out and play rugby with ambition. We believe that we can beat Argentina and we believe that on our day we can beat anyone in the world.”
He’ll enjoy the break from matches nonetheless.
“It will be great to be able to go away and enjoy each other’s company off the pitch,” he said.