These stress rehearsals are a reward for hard work

THE reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more. As an addendum to this favourite quote of sports psychologists the world over, it might be added that sometimes — if you’re really lucky — there’s a bit of fun to be had along the way.

As Scotland prepare for their first of four World Cup warm-up matches, against France in Nice tonight, there will be pressure on players looking to either claim or retain a place in Gregor Townsend’s final 31-man squad.

According to a Scotland great who was involved in four World Cup campaigns, however, the guys on the front line will also experience the sweet release that only comes from playing the game they love.

‘It may sound daft but the warm-up games are almost like a reward for all the hard work you put in during that period,’ explained Chris Paterson.

‘The build-up to a World Cup is like the longest pre-season you’ll ever do, maybe eight weeks of hard work.

‘Players train because they want to play. So the release when you actually get a game, after all that hard graft, is something else.

‘The first World Cup I was involved in, I didn’t take any part in the preparation. That was 1999.

‘I had been on tour with Scotland over the summer, missed the warm-up games and then got called up just before the squad was announced.

‘The next three tournaments, I was involved in everything — and there was good and bad.

‘In 2003, we turned in a really poor performance against Ireland in our final game before the World Cup and left knowing we had a lot of things still to fine-tune.

‘In 2007, just because of the way the game was going across the world, the focus was on physicality and strength.

‘We came out for our first warm-up game that year, against Ireland again and there were people doing doubletakes over the sheer size of our team.

‘That was the way rugby was going back then and there wasn’t much expansive stuff played in the tournament.

‘In 2011, I think we had only two warm-up games. And that wasn’t enough because it’s a long time between May and September — you lose a lot of sharpness.

‘Three or four games is better but it’s still difficult for your first game of the season to be an international

‘Normally, you kick off your season with a bounce game — and make all your mistakes behind closed doors.’

Tonight’s clash with Les Bleus is followed by next Saturday’s visit of France to BT Murrayfield, before Georgia are then tackled home and away. It’s not a schedule that has just been thrown together.

‘The clear aim is for Townsend’s men to arrive in Japan perfectly balanced — neither undercooked nor overworked. The only way to look at these games are as preparation for the World Cup, obviously,’ Paterson told Sportsmail.

‘You have also look at performances — and the results are important, too.

‘I assume Gregor and his coaching team will have ideas about the majority of his 31 players for the squad.

‘They will be looking to finalise a few places, either by confirming what they already know or someone forcing their way in.

‘It’s not just the individual performances he’ll look at, but units and how they play together, whether that’s the half-backs, the back three, the back row or whatever.

‘Ultimately, like every other coach in the tournament, Gregor is looking for the guys who give him the best chance of progressing.

‘What I like about the schedule is the four games mirror the pool stage of the World Cup.

‘There is travelling because of the home-and-away nature of the fixtures, you’re playing on consecutive weekends and there is a six-day turnaround between two of the games. So four games is a lot.

‘But you have to use the squad, get everyone up to speed — and it’s really important that they start performing.’

Chris Paterson (above) will be part of Premier Sports’ commentary team bringing you all four of Scotland’s Summer tests live and in hD ahead of the rugby World Cup. he will be joined by a team of trusted experts leading the Premier Sports coverage, including al Kellock, rory hamilton and Dougie Vipond plus special guest tim Visser. to find out more, visit www.premiersports.com