THE stakes couldn’t be higher but Darcy Graham – who has replaced Tommy Seymour in Scotland's starting XV – says he is not feeling the least bit on edge about tomorrow night’s win-or-bust World Cup clash against Samoa.
The winger – who has scored five tries in eight appearances for Scotland, including an excellent brace in Scotland’s famous draw against England at the end of last season’s Six Nations – says the bigger the match the more excited he becomes.
“I just go out and do my own thing, I don’t really feel any pressure,” said the 22-year-old, who will be teaming up with fellow Hawick man Stuart Hogg in Scotland’s back three. “The boys have really welcomed me into the squad and I just want to get out there now.
“I always try and bring energy and excitement, that’s what I am all about, I guess. I want to get on the ball and do what I do. I’m looking forward to the challenge. I know there will be a lot of people looking towards me, but I don’t feel any added pressure.
“I want to run into space and run hard. When I get on the ball it’s huge for me, especially if I get on the ball early and get that good first carry.
“I know it’s do-or-die against Samoa but I’m not worried. We have to play our best, there is a bit of pressure there but for me it’s more excitement.
“Some boys do get really nervous, but I’m usually pretty chilled, I’ve always been like that. I take things in my stride.
“I know the Samoans are going to come hard but I’m looking forward to using my footwork. It’s almost letting them beat themselves. Boys will come flying out the line and it doesn’t take much to shift from one foot on to the other and be clear in space. That’s what I’m looking forward to most.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here