THE CELTIC WARRIOR
Adored in Wales and desperate to upset the Irish, Scotland skipper John Barclay is...
IF JOHN BARCLAY hears Flower of Scotland being sung with a Welsh accent today in Dublin, it will signify that he is signing off with the Scarlets in style.
For a lifetime wanderer, Llanelli to Edinburgh is not an epic voyage, but that is what awaits this summer. By then, he will hope to have secured another Pro14 title with the Scarlets and appeared in the Champions Cup Final in Bilbao, providing his side can upset Irish tournament favourites Leinster at the Aviva Stadium this afternoon. The backrower is the Scotland captain with a fervent following in Wales. It helps of course, that he inspired England’s downfall at Murrayfield in this year’s Six Nations.
‘I think we’re all Celtic brothers,’ said the 31-year-old. ‘When I came back after the game against England, I was walking with my dog, and people were beeping the horn and shouting: “well done”.’
In an area where many people speak the native language, Barclay has to rely on the eldest of his three sons for support.
‘I know a few words in Welsh, but Finlay has been to a Welsh school,’ he said. ‘The first day we took him there, I was thinking, “I feel so bad for him” because all the kids were speaking Welsh and straight away the teacher was speaking in Welsh too. He was looking at me and I was just like, “you’re on your own!”. But he loves it now. His pals come round and speak Welsh. He won’t speak it to me, but he would if Scott Williams came over.’
Barclay describes the family travels when he was growing up as ‘ridiculous’. He was born in Hong Kong before a meandering path through Belgium, Switzerland, , Kuala Lumpur, the Philippines, London, Shanghai and Scotland.
After leaving school, he found himself in the Scotland squad; despite having no senior experience at all.
‘I was told I was in the squad for the autumn,’ he said. ‘I thought they meant the Under 19s. I got there and was told, “You are the youngest person in the Scotland squad for over 20 years”. The next week, I played for a local team, and the opposition really took me down a peg. I got the s*** kicked out of me. They were all saying, “Who the f*** is this? Let’s get into him”. I’d just left school and not even played men’s rugby. It probably wasn’t the best plan for me — it put me on a pedestal to get knocked off it.’
After that in-at-the-deep-end episode, Barclay found his feet, only for a freak accident to deny him a shot at England in 2008 — the last time the Scots won the Calcutta Cup, before this year.
‘I was on a sofa with a wine glass in my hand,’ he explained. ‘Someone just sat down on my hand and the wine glass shattered. It sliced my hand to pieces.
‘I was gutted. I thought, “Maybe I could still play”, but I had to have stitches because the end of my finger was flapping off. It was cut down to the bone.’
In career terms, Barclay’s moves have been of the short-haul variety; Glasgow to the Scarlets in 2013 and back to Edinburgh in June this year — to link up with Richard Cockerill. He has prospered in Llanelli, as the Scarlets have harnessed an adventurous streak. Barclay plays his breakdown poaching part and fits in well with the high-octane chaos.
He will have to be at his disruptive best when the Scarlets face Leinster this afternoon. Barclay’s side go into today’s encounter as outsiders, having stunned the home side and Munster en route to winning the league last year.
‘We went into those games so confident, and we’ll be the same this weekend,’ said Barclay. ‘We will enjoy being underdogs and being written off.’ Sky Sports Main Event from 2.55pm.