Rugby World Cup 2011: SRU chief Dodson backs Robinson to spearhead Scotland revival

Scottish RUGBY UNION chief executive Mark Dodson has thrown his full support behind Scotland head coach Andy Robinson following the team’s Rugby World Cup exit.

England’s 16-12 win over Robinson’s men in Auckland and Argentina’s 25-7 defeat of Georgia confirmed Scotland’s third place in Pool B, meaning they have failed to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time.

But Robinson, who earlier this year signed a contract extension until after the 2015 World Cup in England and believes he can turn Scotland into the northern hemisphere’s leading nation, has Dodson’s backing.

Speaking in Auckland today, Dodson said: “We’re frustrated and disappointed with the result against England, but clearly we’re looking forward to learning from the experiences we’ve had while we’ve been out in New Zealand.

“We shouldn’t get too carried away about what happened here. It was a loss, it was disappointing.

“What we have to do is to learn from this and make ourselves even more competitive and turn ourselves into a winning team. We’re going to build a winning culture within Scottish rugby.

“Andy Robinson’s going to be a continuing part of that and I want the whole nation to remain buoyant about what we’re going to achieve here.”