Scotland legend Andy Nicol talks to www.rucked.com about his nation’s Six Nations’ hopes…
How excited are you about the Six Nations?
Very, I think there’s a quiet optimism in Scotland, it’s a settled squad, settled coaching team. We’ve not had that raft of retirements that you always get after the World Cup. And, while it’s just small steps, Scottish rugby has enjoyed a modicum of success with the two pro teams winning games which hasn’t happened in the past. The players are coming into this championship with a lot of wins under their belt and even the guys not playing in Scotland are winning too – those that play for the likes of Gloucester, Perpignan and Sale. There’s an element of cautious optimism about the place.
What did the Scots get out of the World Cup?
Frustration. Scotland had to play Italy and Argentina to get to a World Cup semi-final and ultimately they missed the chance. We’ll never get a better opportunity to get to a semi-final by playing those teams – you usually get a New Zealand, South Africa, France or England in there. It didn’t happen that night in Paris against Argentina so they must look back and think it was a missed opportunity. And sensing what I’m feeling around the camp and speaking to Frank, there’s an element of ‘right come on, let’s show them what we can do’. They’ll put everything out there in this Six Nations which is something they didn’t do in the World Cup – they didn’t know if they could win against Argentina. They won’t make the same mistake this time.
And the France game?
Normally when we play France we always say it depends on what France team turns up. Well I actually think we need to be a bit more bullish about this – we need to say if we turn up, play well and are settled then we will win that game. That hasn’t been the case for a number of years. We need to be a bit more ‘chest out’ and know we can do something in this championship and not just sit back and take what we can get.
Good that you’re going into a Six Nations with Glasgow and Edinburgh winning isn’t it?
Contrast that with the last few years when a lot of the Scotland squad were going to Six Nations having lost five of the last six games. Now Edinburgh have six of their last eight and Glasgow came pretty close to getting through to the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup. There is optimism because of that but you can’t quantify how significant that confidence could be for the players who are really excited about the whole championship.
How strong is the squad?
The competition for players is stronger than it’s possibly ever been – the backrow in particular. We’ve also got three scrum-halves who are top drawer – Mike Blair is leading, but Chris Cusiter and Rory Lawson are fantastic guys. In the backrow you could pick any one of six that could be in the first team of other teams in bygone eras.
Scottish rugby seems settled for a change…
There’s a lot of people who deserve credit for that but one person who’s done a lot is Andy Robinson at Edinburgh. He took on a sinking ship that all the top players had left and he inherited a young squad. In a way though he couldn’t have inherited a better squad as he’s been able to shape it in the way he wants. Now they’re working really hard for each other and they’ve achieved relative success – especially considering where they were before. Andy Robinson has put ten players back into the Scotland set-up who are brimming with confidence.
Wales are now creating their own ‘Fortress Wales’ like Scotland did a few years back…
This whole thing reared up when Matt Williams had this plan for Scotland that all of the players would play their rugby in the country – he was only one to say that. Every coach that’s ever been in charge of Scotland has had to rely on players playing outside of Scotland. In the modern era we’ve had guys playing in England and France and that’s inevitable in a free market. And in many ways we have to have players outside of Scotland because we don’t have enough teams. Is Chris Cusiter better playing for Perpignan rather than getting beaten every week at Borders? Of course he is. Is Chris Paterson, even though he’s not starting all the time, coming back a better player from being at Kingsholm? Absolutely. There’s so many benefits from it. Frank said what Matt said but without this ‘fortress’ thing. He wants as many players in Scotland as possible and Warren Gatland and Eddie O’Sullivan has said the same. But we’ll never have all the players in Scotland because we don’t want them but no-one will own up and say that because it’s not the right thing to say. It didn’t hurt Argentina did it? And, let’s be honest, we were pretty close in Scotland to having the same scenario as them this summer.
What can Scotland achieve in this Six Nations?
I think this is one of the most open Six Nations for a long, long time. You always get this after the World Cup with retirements and I don’t see any reason why Scotland can’t be in the mix come the end of the tournament. Momentum in the Six Nations absolutely vital now that it’s condensed into the seven weeks. Win your first game, you go into that second game full of confidence. Lose and you’re looking at why things didn’t work. I don’t think there’ll be a Grand Slam, and it could ultimately come down to points scored – it’s hard to call at the moment.
If you had to place a bet…
It’s hard to look past France because of their quality. You always look at where France are playing England as the barometer and this year it’s in Paris. Although with Marc Lievremont taking over France are just so unknown – they could be fantastic or struggling. I don’t think they’ll be far away though, they’ve got so many quality players. I’d like to think Scotland could be there as well though.
And one to look out for…
John Barclay, the backrow. Deep ends don’t get any bigger or deeper than being thrown in with a Scottish second-string against New Zealand at a World Cup against Richie McCaw. And he came through with flying colours. Every time he’s been put in that kind of scenario, he’s dealt with it. I just hope he gets a good run in the championship because he could end up as a real star.
Andy Nicol is an official ambassador for Six Nations’ sponsors RBS.
