IT was hardly the image that Scott Lawson and Jon Welsh, a couple of gnarled veterans of international rugby would seek to cultivate. But Scotland’s forwards coach momentarily got rather whimsical yesterday when pondering his good fortune in having them to turn to.
“If Scott [Lawson] and Jon Welsh play together absolutely no problems, they’ll cuddle up next to each other and there won’t be an issue, they know exactly what each other feels like,” Dan McFarland observed.
That was one of the many ways in which, as is his wont, McFarland sought to play down any sense of concern having been generated by Scotland's front-row injury epidemic that would historically have been seen as blighting preparations for the Six Nations Championship. Instead McFarland insists those missing out should only be seen as providing opportunities for others.
To that end it has clearly been a real boon to be able to turn to the Newcastle Falcons clubmates whose combined age might qualify them for a state pension, but who evidently still have a spring in their respective steps.
Lawson’s venerability is such that if he takes the field in Cardiff, as now looks a very strong possibility, only three Scots– Ian McLauchlan, Jim Aitken and Norrie Rowan – each of them fellow front-row men, will have represented their country at a more advanced age and, in spite of four years having elapsed since he was last called upon, he apparently settled back in instantly.
"Straight away. Like a duck to water,” was McFarland’s verdict. “He was really good at training today. It was 2014 when he last played but we've been watching him since we came in as a coaching team. Scott's been playing really well. The lads were down in Newcastle watching him against Exeter. He had a great game off the bench there. Lots of energy, set-pieces excellent. He brings a lot of experience to the squad.”
One of the sport’s great enthusiasts Lawson has been developing a coaching role in recent years, including working with Scotland’s under-20 squad and the Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors academy, while he has even held some sessions with Stuart McInally, the man he looks set to understudy in Cardiff.
“There will be guys who will relish getting to work with Scott, but there is no doubt he is here because he wants to play. We wouldn't have him if he wasn't desperate to get on the pitch,” McFarland observed.
Having acknowledged that changes of personnel can make different demands of coaches in terms of getting players up to pace, he meanwhile cited Welsh as an example of how easy it is to make adjustments if players come in with the right attitude.
“Watching Jon Welsh train today, he would be the guy who is coming in from outside of Scotland, so theoretically he should take longest to fit in with the others, even though he was with us in November for a while, but jeez he trained well today, he trained really well,” McFarland enthused.
Nor are they the only old-timers helping out in time of need, Neil Cochrane also finding himself tantalisingly close to claiming a place in the history books having once again, just as in the autumn, been called in to provide cover at hooker. Should he get on to the pitch at any stage he will, having now turned 34, break Andrew Ker’s 30-year-old record as Scotland’s oldest debutant, his temperament having impressed the team management.
"He helped us out in November and I was really impressed with Neil's attitude,” said McFarland. “He brings a lot of experience too and there is a calmness to him. He's able to give information and advice. He's been around the block."
In similar vein to the views expressed by football pundits this week about the type of impact a model professional can have on the younger members of a squad, the situation Scotland find themselves in as a result of this calamitous looking injury list could yet prove to be of long-term benefit to the squad in allowing the inclusion of such vast experience.
To that end, the return to the squad of Greig Laidlaw can only be another boon and McFarland again gushed about the way his behaviours help set standards as he seeks to prove that he can challenge to reclaim his place in the matchday squad if not necessarily in the starting line-up.
“Greig trained today and looked good. He was really happy to get on the pitch even for that short period,” he said. “He had a couple of kicks at goal and felt the atmosphere of being back on the pitch. He is a very focused fella. He won’t let anything drop off so I don’t see his fitness being an issue at all.”
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