Scotland v England: Andy Robinson reflects on the loneliness of the long-distance coach But more than four years on, his is still the life of an itinerant: early morning flights from Bristol to Edinburgh, meals snatched between meetings, everything done on the hoof. He is rewarded well and he has a contract that runs until 2015, but when the periods away from home grow longer there is a nagging thought in his mind. "I wouldn't use the word guilt," he says carefully. But I am very aware that I can only do what I do with the support of my family and the sacrifices they make. I'm indebted to them that they give me the opportunity to do this. I miss them tremendously when I'm not there. But when you get into something like this you have to deal with the negatives and you have to put them in a compartment. Taking this job on involves fully understanding what it means. Robinson takes refuge in his running. Two months shy of his 48th birthday, he is impressively fit . "Edinburgh is a great city to run around," he says. Sometimes I go along the canal, sometimes up around the castle. It's either early morning or late at night. Princes Street is great. Call it the loneliness of the long-distance coach. The truth of the matter is that Robinson is here to do a job; his attachment to Scotland is conditional. Until now he has seen almost nothing beyond rugby, nothing of the wider country. Asked if he has been to the Highlands, he says he has visited Aberdeen a couple of times. Robinson's win ratio with Scotland stands at 50 per cent, but his approval rating is far higher. He has delivered just one victory in each of his two Six Nations in charge and last year he became the first Scotland coach ever to fail to get the side to the World Cup's knockout stage. Yet there have been no calls for his head, no suggestions that he is anything but the right man for the job. Except in his own mind. He admits he was "a bit depressed" in the time he took off after the World Cup. I thought of the games where we did so well to get into a position to win. It really ripped my heart out when I looked at the way we had lost. We were in positions to win and qualify and we didn't do it. I've always had difficulty understanding losing. I'm embarrassed by losing. We were in control of winning and losing and it was down to our own failings that we lost. Did it hurt more to have the last rites read by England, who beat Robinson's Scots in the final group game in Auckland? Robinson has spent his time in Scotland swatting away questions about grudges, but at least one of his players is less circumspect. "I think he hates them [England] more than we do," said Scotland flanker Alasdair Strokosch. Andy is the most competitive man you'll ever meet. He's just desperate to stick it up his old employers. The best Robinson has managed against England so far is a 15-15 draw in the Murrayfield match two years ago. Against an English side so lacking in experience, his Scots may never have a better chance of improving that record. We know how much losing means to Robinson; maybe this is his time to show us what winning means as well.