Scotland have failed to score a try in 13 of the 24 Tests that Andy Robinson has been in charge, one reason why he has lured Scott Johnson from Ospreys to become chief assistant coach.
Johnson, who has international experience with Wales, his native Australia and the United States, will remain with Ospreys until the end of the season and join Scotland ahead of the summer tour to Australia, Fiji and Samoa.
Scotland secured a try bonus in their opening World Cup match against Romania last September after a late flurry, but failed to cross the line in their other pool matches. They were only the second team in the history of the tournament to record three successive blanks, following Spain in 1999.
It was not that Scotland lacked ambition. Even in the wet against Argentina they tried to move the ball but were let down by a lack of basic skills, such as passing, and in Robinson's two Six Nations campaigns as head coach they have finished bottom of the try-scoring table.
Scotland were the leading try scorers in the 1991 World Cup, their total of 20 exceeding that of New Zealand, the team that beat them in the third‑place play‑off that year, by one, but this year even Namibia, who were thrashed four times, scored more.
"Scotland is a country with a great history in rugby and with Andy there's a real focus point to get it back to where it belongs on the world stage by creating something new and brighter," said Johnson, who will also be used by the Scottish Rugby Union to scour the world for players qualified to wear the blue jersey.
Robinson said at the start of the month that he would be supplementing his management team with a coach of international experience after the end of the Six Nations, a statement that was interpreted at the time as meaning he would be providing support for the attack coach, Gregor Townsend.
"I am delighted that Scott has agreed to join us," said Robinson. "I have huge respect for him as a coach and a person having worked opposite him on numerous occasions."
If Ospreys are hardly known as the great entertainers, Johnson was regarded as the architect of the attacking game that helped Wales to win the grand slam in 2005. It was his acme in Test rugby: he took over as caretaker head coach for three matches the following year before leaving Wales and joining the Wallabies. He was not retained after the 2007 World Cup and after a year with the United States, he joined Ospreys in 2009.
Ospreys will this week learn whether their Wales tight-head prop Adam Jones faces time out of the game after he suffered a neck injury during the Boxing Day defeat against the Scarlets. "It could be something or nothing," said Johnson.
