Try highlight fires Bennett up for repeat
IN the dark days when Mark Bennett was i njured and a major doubt for the Calcutta Cup clash, he kept his spirits up by replaying his World Cup try against Australia in his mind and imagining doing the same to England.
It was all the Glasgow Warriors centre had to keep him going during those lonely hours in the gym as he anxiously awaited medical reports on an injured shoulder.
Who could blame him for harking back to that famous touchdown that so nearly secured Scotland’s passage to the semi-finals?
Bennett says he will never forget the emotion of the moment when, with six minutes left in the Wallabies match, he intercepted a poor pass from James Slipper and sprinted for the line before diving over between the posts.
Greig Laidlaw’s conversion gave Scotland a precious two-point lead that led to mayhem on the pitch and in the Twickenham stands. Then cruel fate took over. A botched line-out and a wronglyawarded last-minute penalty for the Australians left Bennett and the entire Scottish nation cursing their luck.
The 23-year-old’s heroics weren’t all in vain, however. Now he’s more determined than ever to make up for the disappointment of that World Cup exit by putting England to the sword this weekend.
‘Scoring that try was a really crazy, amazing moment,’ said Bennett, who will line up alongside Matt Scott in the centre for the Six Nations opener.
‘I got the ball and the first thing that was going through my head was: “Don’t drop it.”
‘Then there was all the noise and I remember the place going wild. Through all the mayhem, the only thing I could hear was Sean Maitland screaming behind me. He was going mental.
‘It was a weird sensation because, as I got to the line, the roars from the crowd just felt like background noise. All I could hear was Sean’s voice, screaming and whooping and shouting.
‘If I can experience the same by scoring a try against England on Saturday, it will be great.’
It won’t be lost on the English players that they are coming up against a Scotland centre who had surgery on one shoulder nine months ago and has been out for nearly a month after hurting the other one.
They won’t show any sympathy to the 13-times capped Bennett, and he fully expects the efficiency of his latest recovery to be put to the test from an early stage at Murrayfield tomorrow.
After emerging unscathed from some behind-closed-doors practise matches, he is confident of standing up to whatever England throw at him.
Bennett, who picked up his latest injury in the European Champions Cup match against Racing 92 in Paris at the start of the year, said: ‘Realistically, I was worried that I might miss the game but I tried to put on a brave face to begin with.
‘I saw a specialist and although my shoulder was pretty swollen the first few days and I didn’t get much movement, the recovery came on quicker than initially expected.
‘It soon became apparent that I was in with a shout and I did some contact work on Friday last week, very light, and more at the start of this week as I built up the shoulder.
‘It was then just a case of getting fired up again and progressing when I felt fully fit.
‘I am ready to go but I expect England to come at me, I don’t see why they wouldn’t.’
His opposite number at 13 will be J onathan J oseph who, l i ke Bennett, is 6ft tall and just slightly heavier at 14stone 5lbs.
The pair have come up against each in Europe when Glasgow played Bath and Bennett knows what to expect of the England centre.
‘It’s always been a good game whenever I’ve played against him,’ he said.
‘He’s fairly similar to me in the way he likes to play and he likes to use his feet and his pace to try to go on the outside.
‘Whenever I’ve played against him, he’s had a bit of craic with me during and after the game, so it’s a battle I am looking forward to.’
Scotland head coach Vern Cotter breathed a huge sigh of relief when i t emerged Bennett would be available for the England game.
Although Matt Scott is fully fit, there i s an i njury doubt over Duncan Taylor, who is the only other fit centre in the squad.
But Cotter i s confident that Taylor will be able to take his place on the bench following a fitness test on his injured back today.
Having a fully-fit Bennett is clearly a huge boost.
‘The medical guys worked night and day, and have given Mark the green light,’ said Cotter.
‘He’s now 100 per cent, which is great for him and the team. He’s followed protocols, he’s back and he can make a difference against England.’