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Archives for February 2012

Scotland are denied victory by refereeing errors

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John Beattie | 18:13 UK time, Sunday, 26 February 2012

It is hard to be a Scotland rugby fan sometimes.

I am in an emptying Murrayfield where the French are ecstatic and Scotland coach Andy Robinson looks fed up.

We were treated to a fantastic game, but I was not impressed by some of the decisions made by referee Wayne Barnes.

He missed a high tackle on Duncan Weir and seemed to ignore French entry to rucks from the side.

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Robinson blameless for Scotland's troubles

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John Beattie | 09:45 UK time, Thursday, 23 February 2012

The accepted argument is that Scotland coach Andy Robinson is under pressure and that he will walk away should results go against him.

The beauty of a blog is that you can say what you think, so here goes: if Robinson walks it's a cop out, but I think results will improve before that has to happen.

You can't blame Robinson for Scotland's opening losses in this year's Six Nations. He may have made selection errors, but I can live with that.

If he goes he'll be making a big mistake; if Scotland sack him they are making a big mistake.

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We've found some lads who can play rugby

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John Beattie | 20:13 UK time, Sunday, 12 February 2012

This is the first blog I've ever written in a taxi on an iPhone on the way to the airport.

How do you feel about the game today? I feel sick as we did well and this taxi is rocking from side to side. How do you feel?

My faith in Andy Robinson is back. His tactics were spot on, application was spot on - so what happened?

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Only so many kicks a man can take

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John Beattie | 19:13 UK time, Tuesday, 7 February 2012

Ach, the retirement of Dan Parks leaves me with a strange feeling in my guts. It's not the finest moment in the history of our game nor in our relationship with our players.

As a journalist and a fan I feel tarnished by this in a way I find hard to explain.

I think he retired after the World Cup but was persuaded to come back to help Scotland in this Six Nations as Ruaridh Jackson was injured and neither Greig Laidlaw nor Duncan Weir were deemed ready.

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Time for the search for new talent to begin

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John Beattie | 18:21 UK time, Sunday, 5 February 2012

Oh dear, sometimes blogs are fun to write. But occasionally I have to take a deep swallow, pick up my quill, inhale sharply, gather my thoughts and, after a couple of hours of hard thinking, get it down on paper.

It's time for Scotland to blood a new generation.

Easy bit to say: David Denton is a find, Ross Rennie had a magnificent game apart from one bit of dodgy distribution that a rugby league player would have ensured resulted in a try, Richie Gray and Jim Hamilton were at the heart of a pack that, apart from at scrum time, won their personal battles, and one crazy exit strategy from the team resulted in a charge-down kick and the game being lost.

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