Robinson steps down
25 Nov 2012
Andy Robinson has resigned as Scotland head coach following a shocking loss to Tonga over the weekend.
Tonga recorded a 21-15 win over Scotland in Aberdeen on Saturday. The Pacific Islanders sealed the result with two tries in the second half, despite being issued two yellow cards during the game.
The loss was Scotland’s 10th in 13 games and it was Robinson’s 19th defeat in 35 fixtures. Scotland also suffered the wooden spoon in the 2012 Six Nations.
Despite being contracted until the end of the 2015 World Cup, the English coach decided to resign.
‘I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the players and the coaches in the last few years,’ Robinson said in a statement. ‘I believe I have left the team in a better position than when I took over and have great confidence in the players and the coaches for the future.
‘I am very disappointed by our recent results but I have belief in the players to develop into a winning team.’
Current assistant coach Scott Johnson is one of the favourites to succeed Robinson. Reports up north have also mentioned South African coach Nick Mallett as a possible candidate.
15 Comments
25 Nov 2012, 17:36 pm
RT @keocoza: Robinson steps down: Andy Robinson has resigned as head coach of Scotland following a shocking loss to Tonga … http://t.c …
25 Nov 2012, 17:37 pm
RT @keocoza: Robinson steps down: Andy Robinson has resigned as head coach of Scotland following a shocking loss to Tonga … http://t.c …
25 Nov 2012, 18:49 pm
And on the other side of the world fans are demanding Heyneke Meyers’ head because he only managed to take the Boks to the nr. 2 ranking in the world in his first season coaching at that level.
The shock, horror and indignation of the supporters stem from the fact that he only managed to beat Australia once, England 3 times and some other less important teams once.
Drawing to England and Argentina caused near heart attacks and losing to New Zealand gave their supporters infinite bragging rights, much to the chargin of the Bok supporters who must wait till next year to see if those results can be reversed.
25 Nov 2012, 19:11 pm
@nortierd-1: Seems you have learnt something from Malema. Step one create a none existent enemy and step two paint yourself as the selfless fighter for justice or a cause against the enemy you created. We are all bok fans, we have criticised Meyer’s selections and some of the reasons he has tried to sell us but we did not call for his head.
25 Nov 2012, 19:13 pm
@nortierd-1:
25 Nov 2012, 19:22 pm
@digger-2:
Just trying to lighten the mood some Digger.
Everyone is so serious here, and I am the last to campaign or fight for anything.
No one accused you personally for calling for his head, but many people are and maybe they have a point, but it won’t change anything, so why bother?
To us it’s a game we enjoy, to HM and Andy Robinson it’s their livelihood.
Andy fared poorly and his side lost one too many and he is without a job.
HM has more riding on the outcome of matches than we do.
25 Nov 2012, 19:42 pm
@nortierd-4: Point taken, it is indeed a game we all enjoy. Some are more passionate, dare I say more misguided than others but at the end of the day we all want the boks to win. It would be very nice if they could win “nice” too.
25 Nov 2012, 19:54 pm
@digger-5:
I couldn’t agree more.
Let’s hope next year they display the game plan we all want to see, or at least some glimpses of it.
25 Nov 2012, 19:55 pm
The funny thing was the Tongan set piece was poor yesterday, poor line outs and scrums, poor goalkicking, their backs toore Scotland a new a@se, the pitch was 6 metres narrower making it easier for Scotland to defend. With a wider pitch we would have been beaten by another 10-12 points at least. Tongas offloading and handling skills were 10 times better than the Boks! Robinson will go and i guarantee the new coach wont make a damn bit of difference. We cannot score tries, we raise our game for big teams and lose gallantly we play weaker teams and we play down to their level and lose. The elitist attitude in Scotland hurts our game, absolutely nobody North of Glasgow will ever get to play rugby at any decent level because the selectors only select upper class publicly educated toffy nosed students from Edinburgh,Glasgow and the borders area. Ive known a few guys who were on my development team bench that because they moved to these areas managed to get selected for a level of rugby which they had no business competing in
25 Nov 2012, 20:01 pm
@dquinn25-7:
Interesting, thanks for that, not the type of insight we would usually be privy to.
I guess after the win in Australia the supporters were positive for the future?
I’ve always been partial to Scotland, ever since the Lions tour of ’80. Andy Irvine was my first “hero” if one can call it that and of course Flower of Scotland is to me the best anthem to listen to.
25 Nov 2012, 20:12 pm
@dquinn25-7:
Too true. I’ve seen the opposite, good players dwindling away and missing top coaching opportunities because they weren’t at the right high school!
25 Nov 2012, 20:19 pm
@lightie-9:
Yep, always been like that.
Just taken to a new level in today’s time, pretty much come down to if you don’t get a contract at 16 you can find something else to do.
Luckily the Varsity Cup has given some a chance and maybe the new club championship will unearth another couple who went to wrong schools
25 Nov 2012, 21:13 pm
@lightie-9: Me too, seen guys totally quitting the sport and developing a hatred for the snobby attitudes associated with it.
25 Nov 2012, 21:27 pm
who cares; WP are Currie Cup CHAMPIONS !!!! Champions, Champions, Champions !!!!
26 Nov 2012, 10:34 am
Tonga beat France at RWC 11 so they are hardly pathetic
Scotland have just never been a quality side since last days of Gavin Hastings
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.