We were swept up in the hype, admits Reid
Pride, says prop Gordon Reid, does not just come before a fall; it causes the fall. That, certainly, is his diagcup
nosis of Scotland’s meek surrender in Cardiff in the first game of this year’s Natwest Six Nations.
“When we started the Six Nations, we were excited and wanted to get started because we believed we were great, the best team in the world, which was not the case,” says Reid. “Against Wales, everybody hyped us up – ‘Scotland are going to win’ – and I think we obviously believed that. We believed we could just go there and win, that we just needed to show up.”
In 80 painful minutes in the Welsh capital, Scotland were comprehensively disabused of the notion this match was theirs to lose. They were at the races, but at times
they looked like carthorses competing with thoroughbreds.
For Reid, getting the mindset right has been the key to success under Vern Cotter and now Gregor Townsend. When Scotland have got above themselves, they have crashed and burned. Whenever the threat of a huge beating has been present, such as against the All Blacks, or they have had a point to prove, such as against Australia and France a fortnight ago, they have stepped up.
Nowhere is navigating the path between over-confidence and fearfulness more important than against England on Saturday. For the Scots, says Reid, the Calcutta assumes such importance and provokes so many unhelpful emotions that the primary challenge for most Scotland players is to focus on playing their normal game.
The consequences of getting it wrong were apparent at Twickenham last year when a firedup Fraser Brown charged in, gave away a yellow card after two minutes and set Scotland on the slippery slope to oblivion.
“Possibly we were playing the occasion, so now we need to keep a level head and go into the game nice and calm,” says Reid of last season’s 61-21 drubbing. “You’re always going to get emotional. I’m Scottish through and through, and it’s a massive game for us.
“Last year showed the importance of keeping a lid on things. We let our emotions get to us and that resulted in them beating us by a hefty amount. So, it’s a huge thing for us to keep level-minded and thinking positively.” Playing for London Irish, Reid knows most of the England players, not