Team-mates keep young Graham in his place

DARCY GRAHAM might be the most exciting up-and-coming player in Scottish rugby, but there is no chance of his squad-mates in Japan putting the winger on a pedestal. In fact, as the youngest member of the group, he has been given some extra domestic duties to keep him in his place, writes David Barnes.

“I’ve had to iron the boys’ shirts, I had four or five shirts to iron for the opening ceremony,” he said. “I’ve also been carrying the team guitar about. I’ve had all the fun jobs.”

Graham revealed that Sean Maitland and Duncan Taylor are the most Clapton-esque members of the group, while there is no shortage of duds on the guitar.

The 22-year-old from Hawick played the full 80 minutes in Monday’s 34-0 victory over Samoa. It was a big result for Scotland after the disappointment of their opening weekend defeat to Ireland, and Graham played a full part in the result in both defence and attack – but he believes he could have done better.

“It was great to get my first start in the World Cup, it was massive for me, but personally I wasn’t too pleased with my own performance,” he said. “I made a couple of mistakes and they ate away at me after the game.

“I really put pressure on myself to be perfect, but you don’t get [perfect] games like that. I know I’m really hard on myself – I always expect better from myself – but it is the only way to keep improving.

“I dropped one ball from Finn’s [Russell] pass off a scrum which was a try-scoring opportunity, and I was tackled into touch when I had an opportunity to kick the ball through. They are wee things really, but they eat away at me. Overall, a win is a win, so we’ll take it, and we’ll move on now to the Russia game.”

Not many people who watched the game on Monday would agree with his analysis. He might not have managed to add to the five tries he had scored in his previous eight Scotland appearances but Graham’s threat with ball in hand was evident throughout – and he has surely now made the No.14 jersey his own.