IT is the lot of the Scottish sports fan to be eternally optimistic and while we are so often disappointed in our expectations, just occasionally there really are grounds for thinking that something good might be about to happen, especially in our two major team sports.
The Scottish rugby XV on Saturday very nearly caused an upset against a massive South Africa side that had to show their brute strength and occasionally nastier side to get a result – how all the officials and the TMO missed their captain Siya Kolisi’s headbutt on Peter Horne in the 30th minute is beyond me. And yes, I did spot it before the BBC. Had that been seen, it would have been an automatic red card and the result might well have been different.
READ MORE: How Scotland players rated against South Africa
What was really pleasing to all Scottish rugby fans is that the men in off-white played the more expansive game, and they were quite right to go for a try rather than three points late on as it was a friendly – a different attitude would have prevailed were it a World Cup match. I remind you at this point that our main rivals in Pool A in next September’s World Cup in Japan are Ireland, who did so magnificently well to beat the All Blacks on Saturday. And if we beat Ireland we’ll get either South Africa or New Zealand in the quarter-finals, presuming we have also beaten the hosts Japan, Samoa and Russia in our other pool matches.
If Scotland are to progress to their target of the semi-finals we will have to beat two out of three of the following – the teams ranked one and two in the world at present and the Springboks that have just beat us, albeit narrowly. So why any optimism?
It’s because the Scottish coaches have found new, young stars who have made an impact. Blair Kinghorn, Darcy Graham, Alan Dell, Sam Skinner, Jamie Ritchie, George Horne, Matt Fagerson and Adam Hastings have all made the step up to full international in their early 20s and none of them looked out of place. Also, Jonny Gray and Stuart Hogg are still only 24 and 26 respectively, so Gregor Townsend’s demand for strength in depth looks to be fulfilled by youthful talent and there’s still 11 months to grow and mature the squad before the arduous trip to Japan.
It’s the same with the national team in the round ball game. The performance against Albania was remarkable given the number of call-offs due to injury, but those withdrawals may have been a blessing in disguise because they forced McLeish into successfully changing personnel and tactics.
To be fair to the Scotland manager he did say that Kieran Tierney and John McGinn were the only two to pull out who might have made the starting XI, but at 21 and 24 respectively, those two players help me make my point.
For the pleasing thing is how young this Scotland squad is. Take away Allan McGregor and Steven Fletcher from the starting XI on Saturday – I’m not suggesting for an instant that should happen – and the average age of the remaining nine was 24 years and two months.
They all have a lot to learn, they absolutely do need more game time as a squad and they should certainly listen to old heads like McGregor, Craig Gordon, Charlie Mulgrew, Steven Naismith and the Fletchers, Steven and Darren, as even if the latter doesn’t play, the vastly experienced Stoke City man would be a very good influence in the squad.
I thought McLeish got the tactics right on Saturday. The formation worked and most importantly Scotland pressed upfield at the right time – both goals in the first half were the result of the Scottish players massing high up the field – and then hung back and played on the counter in an excellent second-half performance, albeit against a depleted Albanian team. It was a definite sending off for Mergim Mavraj and the penalty was also unarguable, so thanks to the officials on Saturday for standing up to the relentless Albanian backchat.
One issue has also been resolved, surely. Andrew Robertson has matured immeasurably and improved greatly as a player since his move to Liverpool and his captaincy on Saturday was sure and steady, so he should be given the armband permanently.
If McLeish can just get the time to build his squad properly, we could qualify for the 2020 European Championships and even do well in them, but as chance would have it, Scotland must go to Hampden Park tomorrow night for a real crunch game against Israel that could either advance or set back the qualification cause. It’s technically not a must-win game because we are safe from relegation, but beating Israel gets us into the play-offs, so come on Tartan Army, time for a Hampden Roar.
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