LISTENING to the excitement of the crowd as we have waited to go out to perform over the past few weeks has been a reminder of what my old mates in the Scotland squad are about to experience in the course of the forthcoming Six Nations Championship.

In ‘Dancing on Ice’ we’ve even got a tunnel to go out through, so when you’re standing there it’s amazing how much it feels like waiting to go out for a big game. The big difference is you’re not going to blow out all your nerves in the first five minutes, your legs are shaking for most of a performance that we’re trying to make look elegant.

As viewers saw last weekend it can still be pretty dangerous, though. It was awful when my ice dancing partner Ale Izquierdo had to be taken to hospital after a training accident. I’m used to being hurt and hurting other people, but I’m not used to a woman getting hurt like that, so that’s the biggest concern.

It was such an example of how quickly it can go from marginally safe to suddenly very, very dangerous and damaging and it was literally just a case of timing. We were slightly rushing through to show the choreographer which wasn’t ideal. It’s a lesson learned the hard way and not pleasant. However, she showed almost a rugby mentality and rugby character to have the bravery to come and perform the next night. 

I’ve seen a lot of head knocks in my time and she banged her head very hard. If it was a rugby player in training I doubt they would have been cleared to play a game the next day.

My own biggest head knock was with Mikey Blair, who’s now Scotland’s assistant coach, in a Glasgow - Edinburgh 1872 Cup match and I want it in the record books that I stayed on and he had to be taken off.

Of course, this week’s build-up to Scotland’s opening day game in Cardiff has brought back memories of another dreadful moment when my brother Thom suffered a life-threatening neck injury.  It would be very easy for that to have put me off the game completely because of the memory of it happening there when I was on the field. It was almost doubly painful because we pretty much had the Welsh by the throat and let that slip. It summed up that time and that period for me, playing with the Scotland team, our ability to be so good at times without ever really converting as often as we deserved to.

I’ll never forget having to go back to playing Cardiff in Glasgow the weekend after, which was probably the worst experience. I was being sick before the game, I really didn’t want to play because of the thoughts going through my head. The trouble was, it was such an innocuous incident.

Thom was tackled from behind by Shane Williams, he kind of hit Lee Byrne head on, but it doesn’t look too dissimilar from tackles that are happening very regularly on the field. So thinking about going into tackles the weekend after was just horrible.

I have to say a huge thanks to Sean Lineen (Glasgow ‘s then head coach) because I didn’t want to play, but he was it would be the best thing for me and I knew deep down that it was what I would have wanted if I’d been in Thom’s shoes, for your brother to go out and I guess in a way carry on the name... keep the team going.

Once that game was done it was a case of ‘this is what I’m supposed to be doing, this is my place,’ and it really helped, but they are very tough memories thinking about it for so many reasons. It was the Welsh physicality… it wasn’t just Thom’s horrific injury, it was Chris Paterson doing his kidneys in and Rory Lamont had a bad injury that contributed later to giving him trouble.

That showed the grit and physicality the Welsh bring as well and how hard it is to beat them in their coliseum of a stadium. It’s a good reminder for the lads to just keep fighting to the end. Even if you’re up a few points and think you’ve got them in your pocket it’s not over until that final whistle.  I still can’t believe that all we had to do was get the ball out with that last kick. Thinking about it is very tough.

With my other commitments at the moment it is going to be tricky to see all this season’s Six Nations matches live, but Scotland are going so well I can’t wait for the tournament to start.

I’m enjoying ‘Dancing on Ice’, but it’s absolutely mental. The weeks are almost more stressful than the weeks leading up to Six Nations games because you’ve got a new song, new routine, you know you’re going to be on live television doing all these new steps and you’ve got to be making it look as natural as possible.

I’ve had so many messages from the lads wishing me well, some more humourous than others, but all with the same intention, so I’m still in touch. Tommy Seymour seemed a bit disgruntled because I’ve put out a few ‘WhatsApp’ messages reminding people that the show was on and he wasn’t too happy that he was getting group messages and not personalised ones, so I’ve got to cater to him.

It’s more the lads who have young kids and like watching it with them that have been in touch, though, like Hoggy sending messages saying how much they love watching and their kids love watching. So, it’s nice to know you’re representing your peers in a way that they can be proud of you.

Now it’s their turn, though and in terms of operating within my comfort zone, I’d rather be gearing up to play the Welsh this weekend, than stepping on the ice again.  I’m so excited about it, so although I’ve got rehearsals on Saturday I’ll be trying to get the game on non-stop.

I was up for the All Blacks game which was brilliant, not only the atmosphere, but also the excitement of the game. There can’t have been too many close margins like that against them and everyone was on the edge of their seats when Stuart Hogg was trying to run in that try at the end.  It was brilliant to watch. I caught all the autumn Test games and was just blown away by the level the lads are at in terms of working together as a team, but also finishing opportunities.

In my day we had talent, we had serious potential, but we could never finish when it really mattered. That’s what I was really impressed by when I was watching through the autumn.

I saw a little bit of Hoggy coming through when I was still at Glasgow Warriors and I remember in the early stages of his career seeing the potential for his huge talent.  I also toured with Finn Russell when we went to Canada and the USA. I roomed with him in Houston and right away I just loved his confidence. Straightaway his ability to bond with a senior player and have that relaxed nature even off the pitch, behind the scenes and in among the team camaraderie, is something that affects things on the field. The days I played 13 and wanting the ball with enough time to do something it would have been awesome getting service off him. Having players like that having key roles in positions like fly-half and with Hoggy at full-back, definitely benefits the rest of the lads.

When you’ve got one of your talismen on the field in Finn being so cool, calm and collected it just makes everyone else around you have that same kind of feeling. I was a bit gutted I missed out on having a bit more time with those lads but it’s benefitting Scotland massively having them doing so well.

When you think of some of the great 10s like Dan Carter in his heyday or even today, he just looks as if he has so much time on his hands, he creates so much time and it’s the same when you watch Finn. He’s not panicking into position, he’s almost more commonly just walking into position, knowing what’s coming, feeling the pace of things and that massively helps the players around you. It gives everyone a chance to perform.