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Scots haven’t forgotten Lions snubs

WARREN Gatland take note. The Scots are coming to get you. They haven’t forgotten those British and Irish Lions snubs. And they’re ready to wreak their revenge.

You don’t think the Scotland players so glaringly overlooked by Wales coach Gatland last summer are ready to forgive and forget, do you?

Oh, some may say they’ve moved on from the Kiwi packing his Lions squad with Welshmen proven singularly inferior to their Scots counterparts in a Murrayfield mauling just a few months earlier. Don’t believe a word of it.

As if Saturday’s big Six Nations kick-off in Cardiff wasn’t already a delicious enough proposition, Mr Gatland’s ‘quirky’ selection calls add a dash of edgy animosity to the mix. Can. Not. Wait.

Gregor Townsend’s men have, of course, been saddled with some truly vertigo-inducing expectations ahead of this year’s tournament.

It isn’t fair. But it says everything about Scotland’s improved status in the global game, the building job Townsend has done on Vern Cotter’s painstakingly-laid foundations — and the latent enthusiasm for international rugby union in a country where it was once only a source of embarrassment and pain. The heightened demand for some tangible success, something the fans can touch and cherish, represents proof of progress.

Now, brace yourselves. Because there may be no competition on earth as intense, as brutalising and as consistently demanding as the northern hemisphere’s flagship championship.

Honestly? There are Scots for whom anything less than a firstever Six Nations title will feel like a disappointment.

Among some casual rugby followers who dip in and out of the game during a 48-hour window either side of the opening and closing fixtures, even being crowned champions will be a disappointment if Toonie’s Wonders don’t land the Grand Slam.

This is nuts. Absolutely nuts. But it sure as hell beats being written off by the vast majority of the sporting public, right? For all those non-rugby pals who have been asking the same question of late, yes, Scotland could win their first Championship since winning the final old Five Nations back in 1999.

To go any further than that would be sheer folly. Fun. But the stuff of dreams.

Because, yes, Townsend’s brief spell at the helm has seen the Scots rise to fifth in the world rankings. Fifth. Unthinkable for a nation once stranded outside the top ten.

But, according to those rankings, England are officially the second best team on the planet. Few doubt that they deserve to be there.

Ireland are third. Wales a ‘lowly’ seventh. France a pitiful ninth. Only Italy, circling the drain and hanging on to their Six Nations status by the grace of the committee, are whipping boys.

Scotland’s main concerns have changed over the years. We now have try scorers aplenty and a style of rugby to thrill the most cynical of up-the-jumper ballsmuggling artists.

The days of white-line fever and fat-fingered fumbling with the ball in hand are long gone, mercifully.

With all teams having major injury problems, Townsend — making his head-coach bow in the tournament — can’t claim any special status because a few bodies are missing.

But, traditionally, Scotland have less strength in depth. We’ll need luck to get key players safely through to that final fixture in Rome on March 17.

And the Scots have to exorcise the memory of Twickenham last year, a blow-out loss not easily shaken off. For their own sake, as much as national morale, the boys need to make a blistering start.

In Townsend we trust, then. In Gatland, we see a man due a bit of payback. Oh, please, please make it happen, lads. You know you’ll enjoy it just that little bit more than you should...