Fighting for that jersey is all I know
APROFESSIONAL lifetime spent among the ranks of ‘the other guys’ — the stand-ins and back-ups, alternates and useful options — has inured Peter Horne to backhanded compliments and casual put-downs.
He knows, deep down, that Scotland are a better team when he plays. If he could care less about persuading the wider world on this point, the versatile playmaker remains fixated on convincing Gregor Townsend of his indispensability.
Pitched into action against France at BT Murrayfield tomorrow, Horne — who says the Scotland coaching staff have told players that their defensive ability will be the deciding factor in selection for the Rugby World Cup — is hardly going to buckle under the pressure of playing for his place on the flight to Japan.
‘I’ve been in a position in my career where I’ve never had the luxury of being able to go into a game expecting another chance,’ he pointed out.
‘I’ve always been playing for the jersey next week. That’s the way it is and this is no different.’
When it was suggested that the arrival of Northampton centre Rory Hutchinson had made competition for even a squad place tougher than ever, Horne simply shook his head and flashed a knowing grin.
‘My whole career, I’ve been second choice,’ said Horne, with 21 of his 41 Scotland caps coming from off the bench. ‘It doesn’t bother me. I always work hard and, from the outside, everyone talks about everyone else. It doesn’t matter what I do. So I tend to just not care and get on with my job.
‘Keep working hard, keep my head down and don’t pay too much attention.
‘Competition is great for the squad. I’m competitive, I want to win and I want to play, so it doesn’t matter how…
‘I remember the year at Glasgow we won the league, I think I played 32 games that year — and the whole year it seemed it was about how the first-choice centres were Alex Dunbar and Mark Bennett.
‘Fair enough, at the end of that year they were both injured, but I played ahead of them that whole season. It’s been like that… forever.
‘But it’s not about me. Hutch has had a great year. He’s come in and trained really well.
‘There is a lot of competition. Last Rugby World Cup, there were a couple of injuries, which narrowed it down a little bit. But over the last few years, there has been loads of competition. Duncan Taylor is obviously back and he played well at the weekend.
‘Hutch has now come in and he’s had a great season at Northampton. You’ve got Huw Jones, Nick Grigg playing really well, Sam Johnson playing well.
‘There has been competition for the last couple of years and it’s been tough to get your jersey and get out on the park. It’ll be no different this weekend.
‘You don’t have the luxury now that if you play s **** you’ll still be in the week after. If you don’t play well then you’re not going to play.
‘I know what I bring. I’m not the flashiest of players but I know I’m ready to compete and I do a job in this team that makes us a better team.
‘I’m not thinking too hard about anything, I’ll just go out this weekend and work my socks off.’
Horne has done a ‘fair bit’ of work in the stand-off position during training, having already shown himself capable of bringing a good set of skills to the No10 jersey. He’s no Finn Russell, though. Everything he says about competition for the No 12 shirt, though, is absolutely spot on. It’s fierce. And a couple of his rivals, at least, are most definitely what you would call ‘flashy’.
Interestingly, Horne — in response to a question about last week’s defensive collapse against France in Nice, which he watched from the comfort of home — revealed: ‘The coaches have said the team will be picked on defence.
‘And we all know that there’s no excuse if you miss tackles — you’re not going to be in.’
Scotland will not be a soft touch tomorrow. That much is certain, with the players drafted in desperate to prove themselves more reliable when it comes to basic defending.
Under Townsend, the Scots have not always looked nasty enough to compete against the real hard men. Why should that be?
‘If you can’t get fired up for an international, you shouldn’t really be in the room,’ said Horne, the 29-year-old shifting the blame away from any suggestion that coaches were not feeding players enough raw meat before kick-off.
‘I don’t think it’s that. If Gregor went around slapping boys, I’m not sure how that would go down.
‘The coaches do get fired up. And the players. If you do something wrong at training, you get pulled in and get a rocket. It might be from one of the boys and it might be from one of the coaches.
‘Gregor is not shy. To him, a spade is a spade and we’ll get told. It is just about trying to find that zone in which you perform really well.
‘Some guys do get a bit crazy. George Turner is off his head; he gets really fired up and intense.
‘Some boys are like that but others, like Finn Russell, are the opposite. He is really calm and collected but he will still chuck himself in and make his tackles.
‘It is tough. You’ve got to learn how to do it. You can’t just turn up at the game, go out and play really well. You have to make sure you prepare.
‘Attitude is massive. It underpins everything. The higher the level it goes, it almost becomes a simpler game.
‘A lot of the time, the team that is most fired up and most desperate to win will probably win the game.’
There will be desperation in the air at Murrayfield tomorrow afternoon.
Men will be playing for their places, while a nation looks to restore some pride and optimism ahead of the Georgia double-header — the final staging post en route to Japan.
Motivation will not be lacking. Especially for one eloquent, softly spoken Fifer eager to show that he is nobody’s understudy.