Kilted Kiwi stokes up the fire for Calcutta Cup
Scotland prop Simon Berghan betrayed his Kiwi background with a typically-blunt answer in the build-up to Saturday’s Calcutta Cup showdown. Everyone hates England!
To be fair, Christchurch-born Berghan had a broad smile on his face when asked if he was aware of the Scots’ rivalry with the Auld Enemy ahead of the clash at BT Murrayfield.
He joked: “I sort of knew that everyone hates England, basically, because we did!
“But when I came over here, it was made much more obvious to me, the reasons why and the history. It would be brilliant to get one over them next week, wouldn’t it?
“But I was aware of the rivalry. New Zealand and England have quite a big rivalry as well, especially in rugby.”
Berghan took part in last season’s clash, a 61-21 Twickenham trouncing, and would love the chance to exact some revenge.
He says: “Any game against England is brilliant. I played last year off the bench and the result wasn’t great.
“But I think we’re in a better place this year, we’re at home and it would mean the world to me if I got the opportunity.
“We’ll get a good look at England next week, but it’s going to be a big old match, isn’t it?
“They’re a good squad. I remember coming off the pitch last year and thinking: ‘Far out, that team was really well-drilled’.
“It felt like they didn’t seem to put a foot wrong, which basically tells us you have to take every chance against them. You have to play well, make chances and take them.
“But against any top team, that’s what you’ve got to do. They’ve got this thing about being a big tight five, but France have that as well and we played well against the French, so that’s not really a concern for us.”
Berghan, in particular, had a great game against France, playing the full 80 minutes. That was all the more impressive considering it was his first game after a six-week suspension he copped when his boot made contact with Scotland team-mate Frazer Brown’s head in an 1872 Cup game.
“I think I had a reasonably good game,” he nods.
“You’re always your own worst critic, but I was just happy to get out there and get 80 minutes under my belt.
“But I’m not going to big-up my game too much, though. I was happy with how I performed and it was good to come back with a bit of a bang after six weeks out.”
The France game was only Berghan’s sixth cap, having made his debut against Les Bleus 12 months ago, and from that meeting to last week the fans have gone from “Simon who?” to “Thank God Berghan’s back”.
“This time last year I was a new face, and it was a tough Six Nations for me actually. I wasn’t aware of how much I’d be affected by everything around it.
“My first game was in France and I hadn’t played in front of a crowd bigger than at Edinburgh, which compared to the French crowd was nothing, and I just felt a bit like a boy in a man’s world.
“Then it was the Irish game here when they pipe you into the stadium, with a huge crowd waiting, and it was . . . I dunno, just a bit overwhelming.
“Being a bit of an unknown coming into a settled squad was probably part of it. Maybe I didn’t deal with the pressure of playing for Scotland too well.
“But it becomes easier and this year I can put my front foot forward and put my hand up with a bit more confidence. Hopefully now I’m getting some traction.”