A year and a half after being dumped by England, Andy Robinson was back at the coalface of international coaching yesterday. He may have switched to the blue and white tracksuit of Scotland, but he made it clear that there is no drop in the enthusiasm he brings to the task, nor any change in the determination to produce a winning team.

Asked about any changes in style that he might introduce, his reply was typically pithy. “It is important to play winning rugby,” he said. Pressed, he added: “You have to perform. You don’t want to get into a dogfight against Argentina, they are very good at winning those, but you do have to perform in a way that lets you score points. There is a mindset there. We have to go there knowing that if we perform well at the things we can control, we can win the games.”

After his years of success with England, Robinson, who has been drafted in to help the national squads while holding down the role of full-time coach of Edinburgh, maintains that he is not there to make any sort of point but just gets a buzz out of coaching the best players and feels that he can contribute to the Scotland cause. “When you have been involved in winning the World Cup, you don’t have anything to prove,” he said. “What happened with England happened. I loved all six years of it, but you have to move on and I have done.”

He has already been involved with Scotland, joining Sean Lineen, the Glasgow coach, in taking charge of the A team during the Six Nations and being drafted in as an adviser during the RBS Six Nations. However, yesterday was Robinson’s first official involvement in hands-on coaching with a full international side since England got rid of him and he looked in his element. “It was fine, I’m enjoying it,” he said after two sessions with the squads at Murrayfield yesterday. “It is enjoyable to be back and I’m looking forward to the tour to Argentina.

“Scotland’s forwards have been performing well over the last couple of years, so I all I am doing is building on the foundations that were put in place by George Graham [the forwards coach who lost his job after the Six Nations].

“I am looking at how we take on Argentina. You have to take them on up front and be full on against them. They are strong all round, have a good set-piece, good defence, they are good at turning over ball and are a useful team. The thing is to do your home-work on them and make sure you are able to get equality of ball.

“It is a great country to go to, a great place to go and learn about rugby, a great place to visit and be part of their rugby culture. It is a fabulous culture and it is very, very tough to win out there. You have to be very collected to do so. But we have the armoury and the players to do it. You win as a team there - it is not just about the forwards but everybody combining well and taking our chances.”

Fortunately for him and all the rest of the Scotland squad, they are travelling to Argentina on a real wave of confidence. Most of the players are based in either Robinson’s Edinburgh squad or the Glasgow side coached by Lineen, who has also been drafted in as a backs specialist, and both went through the end of the season unbeaten, including victories away to Munster, two weeks before they were crowned European champions, and the Ospreys, the EDF Cup winners.

“It gives them real confidence to know they can play winning rugby at these grounds - we have to be able to deliver away from home against quality teams,” Robinson said.