GREIG Laidlaw has quelled speculation that he could end his Scotland career when he moves to France next summer by revealing that continued release for international duty was a key element of his negotiations with new club Clermont Auvergne.
It remains to be seen, of course, if the 31-year-old scrum-half will continue to be selected beyond this season, or remain as captain, once Gregor Townsend replaces Vern Cotter as Scotland coach. But yesterday, as the Scotland squad trained together for the first time in preparation for this month’s three Autumn Tests, Laidlaw insisted that he remained committed to the cause - and implied that his impending move from Gloucester to Clermont could in fact prolong an international career that has already earned him 53 caps.
“They were open-minded at the start,” Laidlaw said. “They wanted me to go there, and that was one of the stipulations for me if I was going to sign, that I want to keep playing for Scotland at this moment in time. So we were able to come to an agreement, which is clearly good for me.
“As we have Reg 9 at the moment I’m still an exile, and it’ll be still the case when I go down there,” he added, referring to the World Rugby regulation that means clubs must release players for Test duty during agreed international windows. “I’m really excited [by the move]. They’re playing a great brand of rugby.
“It’s the chance to go into a different league again. I’ve played the PRO12 and the Premiership and I think I’d have regretted it for the rest of my career and probably the rest of my life if I hadn’t taken this opportunity.
“It was part of my decision with [French international scrum-half] Morgan Parra being there. I’m not going to play 80 minutes week in week out; I’m playing a lot of rugby at the moment down at Gloucester. That competition for a place will make me a better player, but in terms of not playing 80 minutes every week, it’s got to be good for a player. None of us are getting any younger.”
While Laidlaw hopes to be around for some time to come, Cotter is now down to his last eight games in charge of Scotland before leaving for Montpellier, his employers having decided not to offer him a new contract. “We’ll be determined to send Vern off in the best way possible,” Cotter’s captain added. “If we can send him on his way with a few wins then that would be great.
“It was outwith the players’ control. Things happen within the game and Scottish Rugby made it clear they want a Scottish coach in there and they’ve done that, and Gregor’s had success in the recent past with Glasgow and he’s done a good job there. They feel that the time is right and it’s the decision they made, so we’ll go with that.”
The Autumn Tests begin on Saturday week when the Wallabies visit Murrayfield for a first meeting with Scotland since last year’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final, which they won by a point after a hotly disputed last-minute penalty. Laidlaw played down the notion that he and his team-mates will be looking for revenge, but suggested the fact Scotland came so close to winning can be used as a motivation this time against opposition he very much believes are beatable.
“It’ll be a bit strange, first time playing against them again, but the way that unfolded, it wasn’t the Australians, was it? It’s nothing to do with them.
“We can’t get caught up in that moment. We can use it, but it could come back to haunt us a little bit. We need to stay in the moment, play what we see in front of us.
“We’re going in with a strong game plan and we’ll have a few surprises for them. If we can start the game well, hopefully it’ll go to the back of our minds. If we turn them over this time it’ll make it that little bit easier.
“Nothing will ever make up for it. The chance to be in a semi-final was massive, and we talked about that as a group of players: it was only them who had that opportunity. You look at the squad now and there’s a few players who played that day who are not in the squad now.
“It’s always changing, but we want to win, to beat good opposition, and we have another crack against Australia. They’ve been on a bit of a sticky patch. We feel the start of the game is going to be key - if we start well and get in amongst them, pull a few surprises to get us on the front foot we can grow confidence from there.”
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