Robinson warns Scotland after heavy Ireland defeat

Scotland coach Andy Robinson told his side they have to do a "lot of work" if they want to beat fellow strugglers Italy and avoid the Six Nations wooden spoon after a damaging 32-14 defeat by Ireland.

The Lansdowne Road loss was Scotland's sixth in a row, a run dating back to the World Cup, and meant they'd won just two of their 14 Six Nations matches under Robinson.

But it was the manner of this defeat, Scotland's heaviest of this Six Nations -- they lost by 14 points to Grand Slam-chasing Wales in Cardiff -- that threatened to be particularly dispiriting for a youthful side.

All season long Robinson has lauded Scotland's commitment and ambition, both of which were evident in a narrow 23-17 defeat by World Cup finalists France at Murrayfield last time out.

However, the former England flanker and coach made no attempt to sugar the pill of a comprehensive defeat by an Ireland side missing the key injured trio of Brian O'Driscoll, Paul O'Connell and Sean O'Brien, as well as scrum-half Conor Murray.

"This is not the position we wanted to be in. We have a lot of work to do this week if we are to beat Italy," Robinson said.

"Rome is a tough place to go, even with a confident side. We have a lot to do this week," he added ahead of a clash with an Italy team that have also lost all four of their their Six Nations matches so far this season following a 24-3 defeat away to Wales on Saturday.

Scotland were still in the match at 22-14 behind at half-time but failed to score any points at all after the interval.

"The second half was a step back," Robinson said. "I don't want to quantify it. We didn't put any shape together.

"We didn't play well enough in the second half to win the game which is very disappointing," said Robinson, whose position as Scotland coach, with a contract that runs until the end of the 2015 World Cup in England and no obvious heir apparent, is not thought to be under imminent threat.

Even Scotland's expected superiority in the lineout failed to materialise on Saturday, with Ireland lock Donnacha Ryan, only playing because of O'Connell's injury, controlling that aspect on his way to the man-of-the-match award.

"Our set-piece, the lineout in particular, didn't function as well as we'd have liked it to," said Robinson, before adding: "We couldn't string more than three phases together and that's not good enough at this level."

Defensive errors, which have plagued Scotland all tournament, were again in evidence and Robinson said: "It's a mark of where we are as a side that we cause a lot of our own problems."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/robinson-warns-scotland-heavy-ireland-defeat-030306215.html

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