Tommy puts team first in bid for World Cup position

SCOTL A ND w ing Tommy Seymour (right) insists he took no joy in seeing his World Cup team-place rivals flop against France.

The Glasgow back watched through the cracks i n his fingers as Gregor Townsend’s team were mauled by a rampant Les Bleus side i n Nice l ast weekend.

Byron McGuigan and Darcy Graham got the nod to start on the flanks in the first of four warm-up clashes at the Allianz Riviera but could do nothing to prevent a 32-3 pasting.

Their struggles could yet end up working in Seymour’s favour as he seeks to nail down his own seat on the plane to Japan.

Seymour’s inclusion for this Saturday’s Murrayfield rematch is one of 14 changes Townsend has made to his line-up having warned those who missed their opportunity to impress on the Cote D’Azur they may not get another chance.

But there was no sense of taking pleasure from others misfortune as Seymour insisted it will take a collective effort for the Dark Blues to succeed at the World Cup, even if it means he does not make the cut.

“I genuinely don’t think of it that way,” he replied after being asked if he has secretly smiled as his wing rivals struggled. “I’m a Scotland player but I’m also a Scotland fan.

“We’re looking to go out to the World Cup and perform well, get out of our group and make noise on a world stage. As far as I’m concerned we need the best 31 guys, whether I’m involved or not, to go out there and represent Scotland.

“If I get an opportunity I’m going to go out and do everything I can to put us in a better place but the guys that went out at the weekend don’t lack any of that either. They’re all striving to the same goal.

“From a selfish point of view I certainly want to go to the World Cup, it’s a massive goal of mine.

“However, do I hope that other players have to have downfalls? Certainly not, because it doesn’t help me, it doesn’t help them and you need a positive culture to get in the best place possible.

“If you have 40 individuals running around, trying to do things solely for themselves then we are never going to be a good team.”

Scotland have now gone five games without a win and Seymour admits that run of woe must end before they set off for the Far East.

“Momentum is as important as anything, you want to go out to Japan with the idea you’ve performed well in these warm-up games,” he said.

“Obviously, the weekend was our first hit at it after a long pre-season. Moving forward we get three more opportunities as a squad and we’ll certainly be looking to build momentum, those feelings of positivity moving onto Japan.

“When you get out there you’re going to look for every advantage you can get.”