WHAT MAKES A LEADER?

Scots need a captain for Wales and Telfer reveals what makes one tick

SCOTLAND’S growth of leaders in recent years will be put to the test again this week when Vern Cotter names a new captain to face Wales in the RBS Six Nations Championship.

Cotter has delighted in having Greig Laidlaw as an ever-present, the scrum-half overtaking David Sole’s record of captaining Scotland (25 Tests) a year ago — but he has been striving to deepen the leadership pool by involving Jonny Gray, Henry Pyrgos and John Barclay in vice-captain or skipper roles.

Jim Telfer has been through the process on more occasions than most, the 25-times capped flanker having captained Scotland and the British and Irish Lions’ midweek team, in days when the captain was effectively the coach. He went on to coach Scotland to the 1984 Grand Slam and 1999 Five Nations Championship, and assisted Ian McGeechan to the 1990 Grand Slam title and 1997 Lions series win in South Africa.

His captains became legendary figures, from Jim Aitken, Finlay Calder and David Sole to Martin Johnson and Gary Armstrong. Telfer agrees, however, that they had earned their respect from peers in the game before those pinnacles and he sees similarities with players in Cotter’s squad.

‘I think of the teams I coached and the captains more often came from the forwards because they tend to be more inspirational to the rest of the players, in the sense that they create that first impetus and momentum,’ he said.

‘Most of the decisions in a game tend to be made by the half-backs but, as a result, they have a lot on their plate. So you have to be careful giving them extra responsibility for communication with the coaches, players and referees.

‘But there’s not one ingredient that makes a captain. There are lots of ingredients. But one thing every captain has to have is respect from his players, on and off the field. It doesn’t matter if he’s a great talker, as long as what he says is important and everyone listens. And often you find the best captains are the ones who have less to say than those who have too much.

‘He obviously has to be good enough to be assured of his position and also have the respect of the coach. The captain is a conduit for the coach to the team. So he has to be on the same wavelength and be able to communicate both to the coach and to the players on the coach’s behalf.

‘He also, particularly nowadays, has to be able to communicate with referees and earn their respect, so that he is listened to.’

So, why did Telfer pick who he did in the great successes of 1984, 1990 and 1999?

‘When I look back to those captains, Jim Aitken was the one who led us to the 1984 Grand Slam, and he was a good captain,’ he said.

‘Jim knew what the team needed to win. He was an out-and-out winner and he and I had the same philosophy on how the game should be played — that was a big factor in why we were successful.

‘Finlay Calder was the next one when I came back to coaching alongside Ian McGeechan in 1989. He and then David Sole were very good captains because they were very good players. They had the respect of the players in 1990, on and off the field. Then, in 1999, Gary Armstrong became the captain. Though not a forward, he was similar in the way he led. He was nearing the end of his career but he had such a CV that he was very well respected.

‘He probably would have been captain earlier if he hadn’t had injuries and lost his enthusiasm for the game a bit at one stage. But professionalism came along at the perfect time for him.

‘If anyone deserved to make some money out of rugby it was Gary because he had helped develop the game. He really was a natural leader in any team he played in, right from his school and youth days, even though he didn’t always captain teams.

‘But we had a few captains. Andy Irvine was a good captain at the end of his career and Roy Laidlaw did it briefly before Jim Aitken took over. So it wasn’t always forwards.’

Telfer spoke highly of Stuart Hogg and Jonny Gray both being great captain material but insisted that they needed time to improve their own games before being handed the extra responsibility. He also accepted that if his preferred choice, flanker Barclay, does not shake off the shoulder injury that forced him off against France, Gray’s experience as co-captain with Glasgow may thrust him into the front line. ‘I assumed Jonny Gray was the vicecaptain in Paris until I saw Barclay take over when Greig went off but that doesn’t surprise me,’ said Telfer. ‘And it wouldn’t surprise me if Vern turned to Barclay this week to lead the team against Wales.

‘A couple of years ago, Barclay wasn’t even in the squad, but Vern has brought him back and to me that’s a reflection of John’s qualities. He captained Glasgow as a young player and has captained Scarlets. He is a natural leader and has huge experience of the club and international game.

‘He’d be a good captain. I like his attitude and he’s come through thick and thin, so I’d go for him over Gray at this stage, if he recovers. Gray has a lot to think about in terms of the lineout and the way Wales will come at Scotland on Saturday. His time will come. He is still a young player learning his craft. ‘We can get carried away in this country with praising people to the hilt or knocking others, when the reality is somewhere in between. Jonny is making tons of tackles, which is great, but there’s more to a second row’s game than tackling. ‘You look at how Courtney Lawes has developed into a great athlete and that is a great model for Jonny. But he’s a good player and I expect him to learn and become a big player for Scotland, in time.’