Barclay banks on chance to fend off rivals
THE build-up to Scotland’s summer tour to Australia, Fiji and Samoa has inevitably focused on the five uncapped players who will be looking to make the step up to international rugby during the next month. However, a few of the old-timers in the squad are feeling the pressure as well.
With Jim Hamilton absent through suspension, former national team captain Al Kellock will be looking to re-establish himself in the second row.
Meanwhile, wingers Max Evans and Sean Lamont will have had a few sleepless nights fretting about what will become of them when Dutchman Tim Visser finally becomes Scots qualified on June 12.
However, the man with most to prove is surely John Barclay. For almost five years, he has been one of the first names down on the Scotland team sheet, and it was only 18 months ago that he was being highlighted as one of only a handful of genuine British Lions contenders in the national squad.
However, he has now fallen behind Ross Rennie in the international pecking order and, to add insult to injury, he also had to spend most of last season playing second fiddle to Chris Fusaro at Glasgow.
Barclay admits that his nose is out of joint — and has vowed to use this tour to restore what he regards as the natural order of things.
‘If I wasn’t annoyed, I shouldn’t really be playing,’ he pointed out. ‘That’s my position and that’s where I want to play.
‘I understand that if someone comes in and plays well, like Ross did for Scotland at the start of the season and like Chris did at Glasgow when I was at the World Cup, then they deserve to keep their place. But I don’t have to accept it.
‘It’s about me trying to get the shirt back off them now — which is a reverse of how it was for a few years previous to that — so it should be interesting.’
Barclay takes some comfort from knowing that he is still seen as an integral enough member of the national squad to be deployed at blindside flanker during the recent Six Nations. But he also realises he is not a big enough specimen to be a truly effective operator at No 6 i n the professional era.
‘I’ve not actually spoken to Andy Robinson yet, so I don’t know where he’s thinking about playing me,’ he revealed. ‘Dave Denton and Kelly Brown are injured, leaving Richie Vernon as the only out-and-out No 8 in the squad, so I guess that’s an option. I’ve had limited opportunities this year at club and country, so I’ll play wherever. But the bottom line is that I want to play openside flanker.
‘It’s quite good fun playing other positions and, if you’re picked for the team, you play wherever you’re picked, I guess. But I wouldn’t want that to be my long-term future.’
It has been a long season for international rugby players in the northern hemisphere, with the buildup to the 2011 World Cup starting last March and only the briefest of breaks being provided after that tournament before they were pressed into action again for the clubs in October.
With Glasgow making the RaboDirect Pro12 play-offs, it means that Barclay has been on the go for 15 months now. With that in mind, the fact that Scotland are not on the rota for threeTest tours of the leading southern hemisphere countries could be viewed as a blessing in disguise.
In the circumstances, a case could be made for leaving Barclay at home, to give him a chance to recharge his batteries so he can rediscover that edge which, up until recently, made him one of the few Scottish players capable of looking good in a struggling team.
However, that would not have been a decision which Barclay would have welcomed.
‘I always wanted to go on tour, especially a tour like this where you are going to places you’ve never been before. I’ve only toured Argentina with Scotland, so it’s really exciting to go to Australia, Fiji and Samoa — especially the last two, which are very different to anything we are used to,’ he said. ‘I kind of think that’s what rugby is about, and it’s great that touring is coming back on the IRB schedule. ‘It’s different and exciting. We’ve had a disappointing run, so it’s good to have new faces in who can help build enthusiasm. ‘These guys have come in and are really excited to be here, which has helped pick everyone else up. All the guys who played in the Six Nations want to make amends and have a good tour as well.’