THE HEAT IS ON BLAIR
Cowan admits he faces a tussle to retain No 7 berth for the World Cup
BLAIR COWAN was far and away Scotland’s first choice No 7 in the last Six Nations. Now, though, he admits he has a real fight on his hands to keep the jersey for the World Cup. Yes, he scored a superb try in Saturday’s warm-up match in Dublin while playing out of position at six, but insists he can take nothing for granted as there are now four others breathing down his neck.
Competition has increased since the Six Nations when the only players pushing him were then uncapped Hugh Blake and Hamish Watson, who won his first and only cap off the bench against Italy in February.
However, Cowan now has to contend with the experienced John Barclay and New Zealand-born John Hardie, who was parachuted into Scotland’s World Cup training squad only three weeks ago.
Only two of the five specialist opensides will go to the World Cup — with Hardie and Watson both expected to play against Italy in Turin this coming weekend.
Blake did himself no harm with a decent starting debut at No 7 against the Irish in the Aviva Stadium, although a broken finger is likely to keep him out of the back-to-back games with the Azzurri, which could harm his chances of making the final cut.
Barclay, who was left out in the cold by head coach Vern Cotter for more than a year until being named in the training squad, certainly put in a shift when he came off the bench for Cowan after 57 minutes.
‘I still have a lot to prove and feel I can take my game to new heights — which I will have to do to make the World Cup squad,’ said 29-year-old Cowan, following Saturday’s narrow defeat to the Six Nations champions.
‘I certainly can’t take anything for granted with the quality of players all trying to be selected in my position.
‘I have never been in such a pressurised environment and, although I have really enjoyed it, I know I have to give my all.
‘The competition for a place is big and I thought Hugh (Blake) did really well in his first game.
‘Although he was under a lot of scrutiny against Ireland, he adjusted well. He had a chance and took it. He didn’t try to push anything.
‘John Barclay came on and did well, and John Hardie has been looking good in training. He is a standard Kiwi openside, who is good with the ball in his hand.
‘No doubt he will be looking to put on a good performance as well with the World Cup coming up, and it’ s the same with other back-row contenders like Hamish.’
If Cowan is feeling the heat of having so many players after his jersey, at least the Irish game gave him the chance to prove his versatility after playing out of position at blindside t o accommodate Blake.
‘ That versatility gives me an extra string to my bow when it comes to selection,’ said the New Zealand- born back row. ‘ I was happy to showcase that against Ireland and it was a big positive for me to be able to do it.
‘ There are s o many t op candidates for openside, so I wanted to show Vern I am not afraid to play wherever he wants me to play.
‘I grew up playing six, seven and eight, so it wasn’t hugely foreign to me. Whatever Scotland jersey they give me, I will take.’
Cowan, who has now started 12 out of 13 Scotland games since Cotter took over, was one of the better performers in a low-key match in which Scotland scored three tries to Ireland’s four.
With both teams fielding experimental starting line-ups, he did his World Cup chances no harm at all.
The same could be said of David Denton at No 8, Sean Lamont on the wing and centre Peter Horne, who scored a try and kicked a penalty and a conversion.
‘As a team, I felt we looked really good but there is a lot more work for us to do,’ added London Irish star Cowan, who qualifies for Scotland through his mother Joan. ‘You have to remember that was our first blow- out after what has been the most intense pre- season — both mentally and physically — that I’ve ever been involved in.’ Cotter was giving nothing away over his two final picks from the five opensides for next month’s global showpiece, but it’s a selection headache he is happy to have.
‘ Blair is a very good player but they are all working hard,’ said Cotter. ‘I think we will run through three games and then sit back to analyse everything afterwards.
‘I would anticipate there will be opportunities for other players next weekend against Italy.
‘We did not have anything fixed in place too solidly because we knew that injuries, knocks and bumps would probably change things.
‘There will be a few players who may get another run, but there will be players who won’t.
‘We have the two games against Italy to play before we name the final 31 for the World Cup, so we will do our work and see if we can see more clearly after that in terms of selection.
‘ There will be some tough decisions but that was the deal. We all knew how it would work.
‘We started with 46 players and we will end with 31. That’s the way it is.
Cotter was happy with the performance in Dublin, although there will be concerns over the way his front five played.
The scrum wasn’t at its best, with Scotland fortunate to go in l evel at half- t i me. I r el and dominated most of the first 40 minutes but had only a Chris Henry try to show f or all of their efforts.
In the Scots first attack on the half-hour, great work by Richie Vernon set up the try for Cowan, who dived over in the corner.
In the second half, with lots of substitutions taking place, both sides decided to spread the play and attack a lot more and five tries were scored.
Scotland captain Henry Pyrgos got one, as did Horne.
Ireland responded with three tries of their own from Sean Cronin, Simon Zebo and Luke Fitzgerald.
Cotter’s men c ould have snatched an unlikely victory at the death, but the Irish were always able to get their noses in front.
Fitzgerald’s try was the pick of the bunch f or the hosts, a brilliant effort f ollowing Ian Madigan’s sensational kick right into his hands.