SCOTLAND RUGBY
HAMISH Watson believes Scotland can gain benefit from seeking to do it for Doddie when they meet Wales in Cardiff tomorrow, but the Edinburgh open-side knows that they can also all do themselves a huge favour as the countdown to next year’s World Cup gets properly under way.
Having lost heavily on their previous visit to The Principality Stadium this season, a weaker Scotland side will take the field this time since it is an all home-based side with none of their exiles available, but the chance to contest The Doddie Weir Cup for the first time means the Scots also have that added motivation of looking to honour their compatriot in the way he would enjoy most.
“There has been a bit of a mention about what happened in the Six Nations. We obviously need a much better performance than that in Wales,” said the 27-year-old.
“It’s going to be an amazing atmosphere and Wales is always a tough place to go.
“I think any away game is tough these days, you saw that with the results in the Six Nations. Every team is struggling a bit more away from home now.
“Teams really want to perform for their home crowd, so it’s a challenge that we need to overcome. Obviously we want to do that… and attribute the win to Doddie.”
On an individual basis there is no reason for any of the Scots to feel intimidated, as Watson pointed out, noting that they have enjoyed success on the field against those they are lining up against at both international and PRO14 level.
“The year before, we beat them, so it’s not as if they’ve beaten us loads of games consecutively,” he said.
“That might play a tiny factor, if that was the case, but it’s not. So last season has been spoken about, but we’re not dwelling on it, not letting it get in our heads too much.
“A lot of the players you face in this game, you play against them every other week.
“It’s the same for us, we don’t have our boys playing club rugby outside Scotland here, so they know all of us, they play us every week. We know what their players like to do and I’m sure they know what we like to do.”
This match meanwhile represents an opportunity for all concerned to catch the eye at the start of Scotland’s firstever four-match autumn Test campaign a year out from the World Cup and, for all that there are many matches to be played before the squad for that trip to Japan is finalised, the message from the senior man is that it is vital to start as they mean to go on.
“Obviously it’s the first international of the season and a few of us haven’t played since the Six Nations, having not gone on tour, we’ve got to blow off the cobwebs and start the season well,” said Watson.
“This is a massive year for Scottish rugby, with 14 test matches before the start of the World Cup, so it’s important that we start well and have a really good autumn series.
“We’ve not had much time together so getting four games back-to-back, being in camp for five weeks, that’s great.”