IT IS more than three years since Sean Kennedy got his one and only taste of Scotland training. Since then he has had injuries to contend with and seen rivals rise to overtake him. Now he says is ready for a second go.
"It was a bit out of the blue," he recalled of his invitation to train with the national team in 2013. "I wasn’t expecting it – it only happened through injuries, really. When it came about it was a massive surprise and, if I am being honest, when I got the call I thought ‘I am not going to play anyway’. Being involved was good."
These days he is in a three-way fight just to get the Edinburgh jersey, but knows if he can get it the reward might be a route to the top. Sam Hidalgo-Clyne romped past him and into the Scotland World Cup squad though Nathan Fowles ended last season as the favoured pick for that highly competitive spot. Kennedy has come through pulling a muscle early in the season and is now getting his chances.
"We’ve all had fairly similar game time, which is a real positive," he said as the team prepared to take on Harlequins in the European Challenge Cup this weekend. "You want to play against the big teams, really push yourself and hopefully take a scalp. Although we are at home, we will be the underdogs. It is a game you want to start in, but I want to start every game to be honest.
"I am enjoying my rugby, which is good. I just want to keep getting good game time and moving on. I think the more you play the more confidence you get in yourself and you try things that you might not try otherwise and they start to come off."
Confidence, he thinks, has been the big change in the Edinburgh team over the last couple of weeks. The team has had the belief to try things to create scores rather than just hope space develops.
"That is a mentality thing, I think at times before we have gone through the motions, but I think Hodgy [Duncan Hodge, Edinburgh's acting head coach] has put more emphasis on individuals to make the right decisions at the right time," he said.
"I wouldn’t say it is freedom. We’ve just started to back ourselves a bit more, and have more confidence in our own ability. I think that might come across as us taking more risks but they are calculated risks."
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