Scotland clean sweep delights coach Andy Robinson
- Published
Head coach Andy Robinson believes Scotland can build on a successful summer tour as they look ahead to a tough autumn Test schedule.
Saturday's 17-16 win in Samoa followed victories against Australia and Fiji. Next up for the Scots are New Zealand, South Africa and Tonga in November.
"It gives us positivity going into the next year," said Robinson.
"The guys should be excited about the forthcoming season and looking forward to being selected against New Zealand."
Scotland travelled to the southern hemisphere on a low ebb, having lost all of their Six Nations matches and failed to reach the knockout phase of the World Cup.
But pride was restored with a gutsy 9-6 win over Australia in a wet and windy Newcastle.
And further successes came in the searing heat on bone-hard pitches against the big-hitting Fijians and Samoans.
"I'm really delighted with what we have achieved on this trip," added Robinson.
"Three big shifts were put in by the team in incredible conditions.
"Right from the first day of arriving in Australia, everything has run smoothly and the players have interacted brilliantly; not just in the training we've done but also off the field.
"Our collective performances were good in all three games and to see the new caps perform as well as they did was just great."
Of the five new faces, loose-head prop Ryan Grant was given the most game time, featuring for 80 minutes in all three Tests.
Tom Brown made his debut in Australia, while Tim Visser played the full matches against Fiji and Samoa, having qualified under residency regulations.
The Dutch winger got his Scotland career off to a flier with two tries in the 37-25 win in Lautoka.
Tom Ryder came off the bench against Fiji and Samoa and Rob Harley scored a dramatic late try as a replacement in the final outing.
Tight-head prop Euan Murray and openside flanker Ross Rennie put in strong performances but Robinson singled out blind-side flanker Alasdair Strokosch, who missed out on three Six Nations games through injury, as his player of the tour.
"In the autumn we start with New Zealand and that's a real challenge, especially when you remember what happened two years ago," continued the head coach.
On that occasion, Scotland were hammered 49-3 at Murrayfield on the back of their first ever series win in the southern hemisphere; a 2-0 Test victory over Argentina.
"If we want to be successful we have to push the boundaries and play against the best teams," continued Robinson.
"We've got South Africa as our second game in the autumn and we will have to stand toe-to-toe with them.
"Tonga are a side we played recently in an 'A' game but we know they have improved as a team."
- Published23 June 2012
- Published23 June 2012
- Published16 June 2012