Kirwan's team in his own image

John Joseph Kirwan MBE looked the part as he strode into Murrayfield yesterday – still dressed in all black, from the shades to the designer shoes.

Strangely, for a man who represented his country 63 times, the giant of a wing never played on the pitch at Murrayfield in the All Black of New Zealand. At 18, he was deemed too young for the 1983 tour of England and Scotland. And at 28 he was deemed to be past his sell-by date for the tour of 1993, although he recovered from that setback to add five more caps to his milliner's collection.

The Aucklander now coaching the rugby Azzurri did play in four internationals against the Scots – and won every one, including the home-town Test in June 1990 that very nearly became the pinnacle of Ian McGeechan's career.

Scotland have never beaten the All Blacks, but they led them by 15 points at Eden Park that day before falling victim to a couple of penalty awards in the "decidedly dodgy" department and losing 21-18. At Murrayfield yesterday McGeechan was presiding over his last Six Nations match as Scotland's coach, while Kirwan was completing his first season in the championship as Italy's.

That the Kiwi novice has guided the wooden-spoonists of the past three seasons to fifth place in the table is a measure of the significant strides he has made. That his squadra Italia came within a whisker of snatching a draw yesterday, and with it fourth place from the Scots on points difference, further embellished his burgeoning reputation.

Kirwan says he wants his team to "play like Italians, to play like they drive", and with the Jaguar logo on their shirts they hit top gear after three minutes and 19 seconds yesterday. In breaking through the Scottish line to the right of the posts, Mirco Bergamasco didn't quite match the vintage score his brother produced at Murrayfield two years ago, but he gave Kirwan's Italy a flying start. Or a false start, it seemed, as they proceeded to play touch rugby on the back foot, Jason White and James McLaren taking advantage of some "After you, Claude" defending.

Still, Ramiro Pez did manage to sell the Scots a bargain dummy at the other end, before Kenny Logan caught Kirwan's men impersonating Coliseum statues and Chris Paterson took the Scottish try-count to four. The final quarter, however, was Italy's – by way of the land of the long white cloud.

Scott Palmer, like his coach a former Auckland player, broke through on the left. Then, with four minutes of regulation time remaining, Bergamasco came within an ace of a try in the right corner. He was stopped by Glenn Metcalfe, the Scotland full-back who hails from Te Awamutu, the home of the celebrated New Zealand songster Neil Finn, of Crowded House fame.

The majority in the crowded Murrayfield house were mightily relieved that the scores were not tied at 30-30, and that an injury-time Paterson penalty allowed Scotland to finish with an eight-point cushion.

For Kirwan, though, it was still a good day at the international office. "We've achieved our three objectives for the championship," he said. "We've got a win. We've shaken off the reputation of a side always breaking the laws. And we've gained the respect of the media world and our peers."

Having made a mark in the Six Nations, the next target for Kirwan is the Rugby World Cup. And the first challenge for the All Black legend? New Zealand in Melbourne on 11 October.