The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Laidlaw shares burden
Captain relishing role of responsibility as Scots seek to move forward in Six Nations
Greig Laidlaw reaches two milestones on Sunday for Scotland but feels the huge burden of being his country’s premier figure is lessening at last.
The 30-year-old hits 50 caps against France at BT Murray field on Sunday, and at the same time matches David Sole’s all-time record of 25 matches as Scotland captain.
During that time, the Jedburgh man has not only skippered the team and filled the key and pivotal role of scrum-half but also borne the responsibility of premier goal-kicker, often being the difference between winning and losing games.
It’s heavy baggage the captain has borne willingly, never shirking the leadership responsibilities and maintaining a superior level of performance off the kicking tee, but after Scotland finally ended their Six Nations losing streak he’ s able to take stock a little and reflect on how the role has changed.
“I think when I step away from the game I will think about it all more,” he said.
“It has been enjoyable, but there’ s been tough at times as well.
“All you can do is try and affect what is in front of you. You will never get back what has happened so you are always learning as a captain, asap layer and I just want to win as many games as I can in the Scotland jersey in my career. That’s all I’m focusing on.”
He’ s ever conscious of what it means to be captain of his country, and will never take the role for granted.
“For me to be in the same category as David Sole or Gavin Hastings as a captain of Scotland is a huge honour, they were my idols when I was growing up ,” he said.
“They had their time in the jersey, they are part of the history and they had success in a Scotland jersey and I would like to emulate that.
“You feel the full brunt of it as captain, you have going straight to speak to press (after the game), speak after matches at all the functions, and that is sometimes hard.
“On the flip-side when you win it is great to have that feeling as a captain, like in Rome. But ultimately we win and lose together and the players understand that. They are 100% behind me and we feel like we are going in the right direction.”
With so much to focus on, Laidlaw is pleased to have a growing number of players – some perhaps surprisingly – putting themselves forward as decisionmakers.
“We try to spread the responsibility,” he said.
“Richie Gray has been brilliant this season, he has really come on in that position. Sometimes he seems so laid back but he truly cares about what’s happening. He is helping his brother Jonny come on as a leader, (Ross) Fordy is leading the scrum and both Finn and Hoggy have been really good taking charge in the backs.
“Not all the pressure is on me now, I’m just another player a lot of the time when we are out there. I’ll make a few big calls along the way, but I have a group of players who help me out and we’ll need them again on Sunday.”
After Rome, it’ s essential that the Scots build on the win against the French, and the omens are good, believes Laidlaw.
“To score 36 points in any test match, especially away from home and without the majority of ball, is great,” he said.
“I think our attacking threat is clearly there now.
“We probably can’ t afford to let France have as much of the ball as we did Italy, and there will be times we need to back ourselves as a defensive unit as they’ll have their purple patch in the game.
“It won’t be easy as we’ve seen from Scotland teams in the past. It’s a tough tournament and France area good team. But we truly believe that if we are our best as a collective then we can win this game.
“Two years ago we came in after beating Italy and we took a step back against France. We can’t take a breather – we’re going to move forward again.”