Andy Robinson's team have the skills to end their dry run but the centre says they need to build consistency - and belief
After Scotland had lost their first home match in last year's Six Nations, failing to score a try against Wales and rarely posing any sort of attacking threat, Sean Lamont enlivened the after-match media conference with comments that flouted the spin-doctors' manual of 'how to say nothing in hundreds of words'.
"It was abysmal," the Scarlets three-quarter said. "The boys need to go away and have a look at themselves: we owe it to the coaches and the fans. I'm sick of having this year after year. We need to pull our fingers out and do some soul-searching."
Lamont was a replacement that day, one player in blue who had no intention of going gently into the good night. A year later the 31-year-old will win his 61st cap against England at Murrayfield on Saturday and his message is the same.
Scotland go into the Six Nations having failed to make the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time, on the back of another championship campaign that had them scrapping with Italy to avoid the wooden spoon. Not since 2006 have Scotland won more than one match in the Six Nations.
One reason for their poor record is that they struggle to score tries, especially in front of their own supporters. They have been reduced to kicks in nine of their past 13 Six Nations matches at Murrayfield and on three of the four occasions they have scored tries, Italy were the opponents. In 10 other games they have managed one try, Max Evans's against Wales in 2009 when the game had already been lost.
They have not scored a try against England at Murrayfield since 2004, the last time they lost the fixture at home; they have been held out by Ireland since 2005 and France since 2006. They failed to score a try in their last three matches in last year's World Cup, equalling a record set by Spain in 1999, and they will be without their record points scorer, Chris Paterson, who has retired from international rugby.
Their head coach, Andy Robinson, has responded by hiring the former Wales and Australia coach, Scott Johnson, although he will not start work until the end of the season when his contract with Ospreys runs out. "I have never met Scott but players at the Scarlets such as Stephen Jones speak very highly of him," says Lamont, who will be returning to Scotland next season, joining his brother Rory at Glasgow. "He sounds someone who can help us go in the right direction.
"We are not far away, as our results show. They tend to be close, such as Argentina and England in the World Cup, but we need to come out on the right side more. We played all the rugby against Argentina and were in charge for most of the game but we did not put them away and got hit at the end.
"We are going into the Six Nations to win it. We cannot be also-rans or valiant losers any more. That is not good enough. We have the ability to turn things around and it is about being consistent. Too often in the past we have been fantastic in some games and awful in others, peaks and troughs. On our day we can beat any of the top teams, as Australia and South Africa have found out. We have to believe."
Victory over new England would give Scotland something to build on and, never mind the freezing weather forecast, Robinson has made unflattering references to the side he coached for seven years which has raised the temperature in the build-up. Scotland, though, have not won their opening fixture in a Six Nations campaign since 2006.
"The first match is always crucial because a win gives you momentum," says Lamont, who has been working with Guinness, the tournament's official beer, in the build-up. "A lot is being made of our try-scoring record but it is not as if we have not been playing an expansive game. The intent is there but teams have tended to concede penalties and, when you had a kicker of Chris's quality, you are going to take the points.
"The issue for us going into the Six Nations is not whether we play pretty rugby but whether we can start getting results.
"Some teams, like England, have had a clear-out since the World Cup and I think it is good to be playing them first up. They have not won at Murrayfield since 2004 and they have new combinations. They will look for an element of surprise but for us it is about getting on the front foot from the start and staying there."
Robinson talked up his team after last season's stirring opener in France. Scotland lost but their play had many of the home supporters at the Stade de France applauding.
He exhorted his players to take the game to Wales but even when they had a two-man advantage they never looked like breaking through. They collapsed under the weight of expectation, prompting Lamont's outburst afterwards.
"I have a lot of time for Andy," says Lamont. "He is a top coach and knows how to get the best out of his players. Our results have not done him justice and I would love us to be successful this year for him. We have come a long way under Andy and we are definitely on the right path. We are a good team and it is time we showed people that."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/feb/02/sean-lamont-scotland-six-nations-england
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