Fraser Brown’s name is among the long list of Scotland players who have missed matches during this season’s Six Nations Championship, but the hooker reckons it would be lame to hide behind that being a contributory factor to their failings during this campaign.
The competition began with three uncapped hookers vying for a place on the bench because Brown and Glasgow Warriors clubmate George Turner were sidelined. Both have returned since, only for Turner to suffer a concussion last weekend, but by the time Scotland met France last month, the injury list included tighthead bulwark WP Nel, the whole of last season’s Six Nations back-row – John Barclay, Hamish Watson and Ryan Wilson – and the team’s most creative backs, Stuart Hogg, Finn Russell and Huw Jones.
Another British & Irish Lion, Sean Maitland, has now dropped out but, as Brown pointed out, the Scots are by no means unique in having such problems in mid-season.
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“You can lose players during a game at any time, but you can’t dwell on that,” he said. “When you come into the Scotland squad you have to be at the very best of your abilities, performing well above what you do week in, week out for your club. It’s tough as you can do not much wrong in a game but make just one or two mistakes and these can end up costing you a result. That’s the level of rugby we’re operating at, so injuries are never an excuse for us. The expectation is that the guys within the group drive the standards then they perform.”
He also believes the team has not performed as poorly in the absence of so many leading lights as is generally considered to be the case.
“If you lose two games in a row, it’s very easy to paint the picture in the media that there is something wrong and that you’ve lost that winning habit,” said Brown.”It’s not as complicated as that. It’s tiny little things in each game. We went in against France at half-time 10-3 down and had had opportunities to score there. The tiny percentages - not being 20 per cent off the mark - but three or four moments is where a game is won or lost. So, the focus is not on stopping the rot or avoiding losing three games on the bounce. The focus is on getting the aspects of our game back up to where they should be. It’s those tiny little moments in games which can change the whole outcome.”
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