SCOTLAND captain John Barclay yesterday admitted that his weekend off in between facing the might of France and England proved a much more frightening experience as his South Wales home was hit by an earthquake.
The Scarlets flanker had returned to the Mumbles for a break from the thunderous collisions of Test match rugby only to find himself in an unprecedented situation over which he had no control and, tough as the Test rugby veteran is, he found it an unnerving experience.
“It was scary. I didn’t know what was going on. My five-year-old ran through and said ‘it wasn’t me dad’,” the 31-year-old recounted.
“The whole house was shaking for about 10 seconds. I found out a lot about myself. I was standing in the doorway… every man for himself.”
The prospect of confronting what is arguably the most formidable force in world rugby, an England side that has won 24 of its last 25 matches, is consequently placed in a slightly different perspective.
“I’ve survived the earthquake so I should be ok this weekend,” Barclay added, with a laugh.
There was, however, a competitive opportunity to be gained from the trip home as he took the chance to compare notes with some of his Scarlets colleagues who had provided a strong challenge to England on their home turf a fortnight ago, conceding no points in the last hour of the match.
Not that he seemed to think he had learned anything beyond what was obvious in an encounter which saw the Welsh show iron discipline to give themselves a chance.
"I went into the club on the week off and just had a little chat with some of them but the footage is there for you to see their strategies,” said Barclay.
“They (Wales) gave away two penalties in the whole game… I don't know if that's ever been done before, that disciplined. They had a very clear strategy, a few calls here or there and the game could have gone the other way. I thought they played very well.”
Scotland have a proud record of their own under Barclay, having suffered just one defeat at Murrayfield since he took over the captaincy last year - to world ranked no.1 New Zealand – but he still views his side as rank outsiders as they seek a first win over England in a decade.
“Because they have won 24 in a row I think they are clear favourites,” he said. “They have to be. l look at their record. Their record against Scotland makes it pretty clear. That said Ireland beat them last year and every team is beatable (but) they are a quality side. It is a huge task for us to knock them off. They've obviously won their first two games, two quite different games, won in different fashions. They are one of the best teams in the world, their record is fantastic, they come here as massive favourites, in my opinion.”
The Scots go into the match with something of a point to prove in terms of playing style, their forwards coach Dan McFarland, yesterday dismissing England coach Eddie Jones’ description of Scotland as a team that simply plays ‘side-to-side’ rugby as just plain wrong, that they have variation in their approach and just have to get the balance right.
That applies to the emotional aspect of getting into the right mindset for such a conflict and while one of the clear lessons from the Welsh performance at Twickenham was the need to keep that in check, Barclay has also spoken this week about tapping into his own first Calcutta Cup memory of being at Murrayfield in 2000.
That was particular relevant because it saw Duncan Hodge end a 10 year wait for a win by scoring all 19 of his side’s points in an odds defying victory which saw Scotland avoid a whitewash in the first Six Nations Championship and simultaneously deny England a Grand Slam on the final day of the tournament.
Against that background he is able to appreciate the impact that a win can have for both future and current generations within the rugby community as passions are stirred.
“I’ve never thought of it like that, but you see footage of kids and there was a guy who was crying in the stand after we beat Ireland… a grown man crying,” he said. “The fans are brilliant. It means a lot to them and they stick with us. The Calcutta Cup captures the imaginations of Scottish fans, the media, everyone. Kids love it. They watch Braveheart and they love that element of it.”
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