LAIDLAW HAS ONE EYE ON JAPAN AND A SHOT AT REDEMPTION
Laidlaw is reaching his comfort zone in France as he gears up for a busy season that he hopes will end with World Cup redemption in Japan
SCOTLAND scrum-half Greig Laidlaw walks into the lobby of his Paris hotel looking a little tired with his blue-coloured neck cushion from his six-hour bus journey still on. ‘We drive everywhere to games in France so this cushion goes everywhere with me,’ said the Scotland scrum-half who has travelled up from ClermontFerrand to the French capital.
‘I can’t do without it. It’s my No 1 important thing when I travel in the coach or on a flight.’
He is going to get a lot of use out of it in the coming year.
Next week marks exactly a year from the start of the 2019 World Cup in Japan and there is a lot of travelling to be done by Laidlaw before he even gets there.
He will be all over France with Clermont Auvergne by coach and also back to Scotland by plane for international training camps, the autumn Tests and Six Nations.
In the summer he will be involved in World Cup warm-up matches home and away against France and also against Georgia in Tbilisi and Murrayfield in August.
Then he will be off to a training camp with Scotland in Nagasaki to prepare for the tournament. The first game of the World Cup is between hosts Japan and Russia — both of whom are in Scotland’s
group — in Tokyo on Friday, September 20. Scotland’s first game is against Ireland in Yokohama two days later.
It is a busy schedule but the man who was Scotland captain at the 2015 World Cup where his team controversially lost to Australia in the quarter-finals wouldn’t have it any other way.
As he takes off his neck cushion and relaxes with a glass of water in his hand, he reveals this will be his final World Cup as a player. That is another reason he wants to lead Scotland deep into the tournament, just as he did in England three years ago. He would turn 37 during the 2022 World Cup in France and knows he won’t be around then.
‘No, you are right… (This will be my last World Cup),’ said Laidlaw. ‘As players you want opportunities to play in big games and big tournaments — and it doesn’t get any bigger than the World Cup.
‘I certainly have burning desires after the last one and how it unfolded. It left me with a desire to put us (Scotland) back in that position again and take a step further on what we did in the last World Cup when we got to the quarter-finals.
‘Four years down the track, the boys will be more experienced heading to Japan. Players coming in have been prepared better in the professional system since then.
‘It is exciting times to be involved with Scotland.
‘Recently, we have taken confidence from what we have done in the Six Nations. We have gradually improved and can compete with the biggest teams.’
Before the last Six Nations questions were asked if Laidlaw (right) had a future with Scotland. Ali Price was the coming man and was picked before him for the opening match against Wales.
A dreadful performance by Price, which included gifting an early try to the Welsh after a bad pass, saw Laidlaw re-instated to the starting team for the remaining Six Nations matches.
He was rested from Scotland’s summer tour to Canada, USA and Argentina because of the heavy workload he would have in the run-up to the World Cup. In his absence, Glasgow Warriors scrum-half George Horne emerged as the latest challenger for his jersey.
The way he has started the season so well with Clermont, you would expect come the Test matches against Fiji, South Africa and Argentina in November — he won’t be released by Clermont for the opener against Wales as it falls outside the international window — he will be back as Scotland’s No 1 scrum-half.
‘I don’t mind getting written off,’ said Laidlaw. ‘I have always said all along there is always going to be competition when you are playing for Scotland. That is a healthy thing.
‘If I can use that in the right way I can get the best out of my game as well. Coupled with me getting the summer off, I can arrive fresh into the Scotland squad this year.
‘I am experienced enough now not to get too excited about things like competition or to worry about myself or whether I will play for Scotland.
‘I am one of the best goal-kickers in the world, so I have to back my own game and bring what I bring to the team. ‘Gregor (Townsend) has always given me belief I would be part of his plans for sure. He is challenging as well and wants me to progress and keep playing better. In terms of that, he is a real driver who keeps you on your toes.
‘I know there are players coming through playing well. George Horne is a good player. Ali Price and Henry Pyrgos, who has moved to Edinburgh, are doing well. I love playing for Scotland. Until the day I feel I can’t add value, I will be there fighting for my jersey.’ Laidlaw believes it was a masterstroke by Scotland head coach Townsend to arrange a tour of Japan two years ago to allow players to get used to the surroundings. Scotland won the first match with ease but it wasn’t until Laidlaw came on in the second match in Tokyo did his team build a significant lead. ‘Just to feel that heat and to understand what it is like to train in it in Japan made that trip worthwhile,’ said the man who was part of the British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand last year. ‘I don’t think it will be as hot during the World Cup as it is later in the year but, nonetheless. preparing in hot temperatures and going
I certainly have a burning desire after the last one and how it unfolded
to Japan a couple of years ago has been good for us.
‘It will be exciting to be involved with the tournament being held in a country relatively new to the game. I am sure there will be a lot of publicity and big crowds during the World Cup and to experience that will be brilliant, so hopefully I can be there.’
Laidlaw continues to have regular chats with Townsend, with the latest coming in a meeting down in Clermont before the Scotland head coach travelled up to Paris to meet Finn Russell.
‘We had a really good chat, about what I learned, what I can bring back to Scotland,’ said the Borderer. ‘He is keeping close tabs on Finn and I and it was good for Gregor to come and see me in a Clermont environment.
‘He also met Finn, who asked my opinion when he was thinking of joining Racing 92 from Glasgow as I was out here already.
‘With the quality of player in this league, and at this stage of his development, it can only be a good thing for him to here.
‘Finn is not scared to take a chance. He is like that. He has a smile on his face and if things aren’t working out for him he gets up and shrugs it off, but I am absolutely certain it will work out for him in Paris.
‘Is he going to play a lot of rugby? Yes he is. Their other main fly-half Pat Lambie is injured so the sooner he is fit again the better for Finn.
‘That was part of Gregor’s reason for coming out, trying to build relationships with our club coaches, which is smart of him. I certainly want to play for Scotland as much as I can and I’m ready to give my all.’
And with that Laidlaw picks up his beloved neck cushion says his goodbyes and heads to his room to prepare for his latest game in his much-travelled career.