Fancy playing against Costa Rica?
Scotland’s rugby players warmed up yesterday for the Six Nations game against France. But such was the skill on display from Chris Harris (right), maybe he should be asked if he fancies switching to the round ball for next month’s friendly against Costa Rica?
Slow and reliable, or fast and fallible.
That’s the choice many people think Gregor Townsend faced in picking who’d play scrum-half for Scotland as they bid to get their Six Nations campaign back on track against France at BT Murrayfield this afternoon.
If that is indeed the case, then the coach opted for the steady if sometimes pedestrian service of former skipper Greig Laidlaw, dropping the all-action Ali Price to the bench after he had a bit of a nightmare in the Cardiff collapse last weekend.
But assistant coach Mike Blair, Scotland’s most-capped scrum-half, doesn’t think those thumbnail sketches paint the whole picture of the rivals for the No. 9 jersey.
“They are different players but I think they’re also capable of doing the things that maybe they’re not known for,” argues Blair.
“Especially with Greig on the Lions tour last summer. A couple of times he came off the bench and I thought had a real zip about him, so he’s capable of doing that and he’s got to keep pushing that.
“I thought Ali did it really well in patches against Wales but it’s getting that consistency every time so you know we’re not waiting for the nine to get there, we’re getting the ball away and moving the ball, because that’s one of the fundamentals of what we’re trying to do in our attack game.”
Last week in the Principality Stadium was Price’s first real reverse in what has been a whirlwind couple of years for him.
The 24-year-old has enjoyed a rapid rise to the Scotland team after signing his first professional contract only two years ago.
“He was obviously disappointed with how the game went,” nods Blair.
“We’ve talked about a number of situations he had and how he could have reacted differently.
“He’s young, he’s only just into double figures with caps and he’ll get a lot better with his experiences.
“By the end of the week there was a spring back in his step and he was focused on what he was going to have to do to make us win this game.”
Price’s half-back partner Finn Russell was another who didn’t have his best game in dark blue against Wales, but Blair has no fears about the mercurial fly-half’s head going down.
He says: “In terms of his confidence, Finn backs himself 100%.
“He’s a student of the game, but he probably doesn’t like people knowing about that because he likes to be this relaxed character. But he’ll have done a lot of analysis on his games and had a lot of chat from the coaches about what we expect from him.”
There’s a new face on Scotland’s bench today, Blair Kinghorn.
The Edinburgh full-back only turned 21 last month but has belied his strapping six-foot-five stature to top the PRO14 stats for metres made and defenders beaten this season while showing an eye for the tryline.
“I’m delighted for Blair. He’s an Edinburgh Academy old boy like me so I pushed hard to get him in!” smiles Blair.
“He’s an exceptional talent. The way he runs with the ball it looks like he’s not going to do anything, but he has this giraffe-like glide to him that makes him incredible hard to put down.
“He has a huge kicking game as well and with his history of playing at 10 for school and club he has that game sense, so we’re really fortunate to have a player like him in the set-up.
“He won’t be known a huge amount so I’d imagine if he comes on the pitch France will wonder why this second row is replacing a wing or a full-back!
“But he’s a smart player and an exciting talent, and someone we’re looking forward to seeing on the pitch.”