BEST LAID PLANS
Greig gets Lions call to KO house move
GREIG LAIDLAW is still coming to terms with the whirlwind 48 hours which ended with him picking up his Lions kit.
The Scotland skipper was drafted in on Saturday to replace England’s Ben Youngs on compassionate grounds due to his sister-in-law’s terminal illness.
And that meant Laidlaw, who is joining French club Clermont from Gloucester from next season, had to abandon plans to move house yesterday.
Instead the scrum-half, 31, was in London listening to Lions coach Warren Gatland outline the opportunities which await this summer in New Zealand.
He said: “I’ve got a few things going on. I’m moving clubs and the house is getting packed up as we speak.
“I was planning to move out today but I’m delighted to be here.
“First and foremost, everybody’s thoughts within the camp are with Tom, Ben and the whole Youngs family.
“But it’s a great opportunity for me to come in, get involved and put my imprint on the squad.
Addition
“A week is a long time in sport. Straight off the back of a defeat with Gloucester we weren’t feeling too good about ourselves, then all of a sudden I’m pretty excited about this.”
Laidlaw’s addition brings the number of Scots in the 41-man party to three alongside full-back Stuart Hogg and winger Tommy Seymour.
He added: “I’m delighted to be here from a Scottish perspective. You fly the Scottish flag, don’t you?
“I caught up with Hoggy and Tommy this morning and I think they were pretty happy to see me.
“But there are brilliant players throughout the squad as well who I’m looking forward to working with, to get the best out of everybody. For us to be successful we’ll need that to happen.”
Laidlaw saw an ankle ligament injury end his Six Nations early before fighting back to full fitness three weeks ahead of schedule.
He said: “Everyone will be targeting a start and I’ll be no different. I’m a competitor and that’s one of my strengths that will never leave me.
“Gloucester’s strength and conditioning team have done a great job. I was delighted to get back in nine weeks because I’d been potentially looking at about 12. So to get back in nine is great.”