9 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
Laidlaw has seen off countless challengers over the years for the scrum-half role and aims to do so again
AMAN shouldn’t be measured by numbers alone. When it comes to weighing Greig Laidlaw’s contribution to Scotland, then, the first thing to recognise is that even the impressive stats next to his name don’t do him justice.
Which is why the 33-year- old has spent a large chunk of his Scotland career seeing off repeated challengers to his position as starting scrum-half.
If Laidlaw losing the captaincy for this World Cup suggests that Gregor Townsend may be prepping the veteran for at least a partial sharing of duties with Ali Price, the head coach cannot be blind to the risk of dropping such an old reliable.
Because the veteran decision-maker, a kind of rugby
Rain Man without the social awkwardness, a quick thinker capable of seeing every angle, every possible outcome for each half- step taken or tenth of a second delayed, definitely adds value to the Scotland side.
What, you insist on statistics to back the argument up? Okay, let’s start with the fact that no one has captained Scotland on more occasions than Laidlaw.
He is also second on the country’s all-time points list, courtesy mainly of goal kicking that has created, among most supporters, a feeling of calm certainty every time he tees up the ball.
His 73 caps are evidence not merely of athletic longevity but of qualities easily identified by a whole succession of national team head coaches.
Four years ago, even those who had doubted Laidlaw — and many spent a long time championing a succession of alternative nines, only to see each discarded as inferior — had to recognise the role he played in guiding the Scots to within one dodgy refereeing call of the semi-finals.
Remember the Samoa game, when the Scottish defence looked like it couldn’t keep a couple of boisterous toddlers from barrelling through the middle of their lines?
Laidlaw saved Scotland that day. Not just with the sneaky try that, eventually, gave the favourites enough of a cushion to hold on for a 36-33 win. But with 26 points in total, the skipper sealed a victory that put his team into the quarter-finals.
Beyond his contribution to the scoreboard, Laidlaw pulled off the counter- intuitive feat of working like a demon to instil some calmness amid the panic.
He was the wise old head. The established pro giving some of the kids all the information they needed to not only emerge from the crisis, but to learn from it.
And now those boys have grown up. Finn Russell doesn’t need Laidlaw working him f rom the back for every minute of every game, keeping him in check with a word or even just a look at the right moment.
Stuart Hogg is as swaggering as ever. But he’s a much smarter player than he was in 2015.
Recognising the natural and l ogi c a l c hange wit nessed since that agonising defeat to Australia, Laidlaw said: ‘ There are players in this group who have matured a lot in the last four years. And they’re in key positions for us.
‘Finn and Hoggy have a lot of experience now and they’re leaders. That is going to help us in the tournament.’
When it is suggested that he no longer has to keep close tabs on stand-off Russell, the former captain acknowledged: ‘ That’s part of hi s development. Now he’s a player who leads the attack. He drives his own standards. He’s become one of our main leaders in the team.
‘ It’s a strong squad. I’m a
rea list. We had a really good squad in 2015 and we did well. If we keep everybody fit this time, we’ll be fine. ‘ What happened in 2015 is a long time ago. We need to move on and look forward. ‘We know we’re going to be close—if we perform. Our results show that. ‘ We’ve beaten Australia, beaten England, beaten France. We’ve beaten all the best teams so, if we perform and perform consistently, we know we can be in the tournament.’ With two season sat Clermont Auvergne under his belt, it can be argued t hat Laidlaw has been consistently playing at a higher level than almost any other member of Townsend’s squad. His game has developed as a result of the move to the French Top 14, a lucrative league laden with gl obal superstars.
‘I’ve been trying to develop my game, anyway,’ he pointed out. ‘Defensively, I’m probably a lot stronger.
‘I’m really enjoying my time in Clermont. It’s a fantastic club and I’m getting to play regularly with and against some of the best players in the world.
‘So my game is in a good place at the moment. Hopefully, people have seen that in my last two performances for Scotland — the win over a very good French team and then the victory in Georgia.’
The ‘people’ he has in mind may well be Townsend and his backroom staff. However you try to spin it, having the captaincy removed can’t feel like a vote of confidence to the player suddenly demoted back to the ranks.
Laid law, who will be vice- captain alongside another former skipper in John Barclay, corrected a mistaken perception when asked for details on his ‘conversations’ with the head coach on this subject.
‘I just had really the one discussion with Gregor about it,’ he said, leaving that fact hanging in the air .‘ It’ s a question for him.
‘But I’m delighted to support Stuart (McInally). I’ll give him all my experience and everything I’ve learned over the years.
‘Leadership is important in any team. It’s important to support each other not just in games but in training. That’s going to be vital throughout the tournament.’
Price and George Horne are the ‘other’ two players selected to cover the scrum-half position, Townsend playing it safe by taking three.
Laidlaw, who said he was ‘excited’ just to be picked for the 31 heading to Japan, will obviously feel that he shouldh be ranked No1 in the No9 jersey.
Will Townsend come to the same conclusion, once he has processed all the data? Hopefully, he has left room in his calculations for the intangibles, the unknown variables, the hidden extra value beyond the measure of the most eagle-eyed stats man.