Just four days after contemplating his omission from the Scotland squad for the Six Nations, Johnnie Beattie was cadging a lift from Richie Gray to Toulouse airport to get back to Scotland.
The 29-year-old Castres No 8 was one of the surprises left out of last week’s squad named by Vern Cotter, given that his dynamic style seemed right in keeping with the head coach’s philosophy and that he had started the last game, the defeat of Tonga at Kilmarnock in November.
But a calf injury to David Denton the only recognised No 8 selected in the original squad meant that Beattie came off from Castres’ ERCC Cup loss to Harlequins to find forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys on his phone telling him to pack his bags.
“Richie had all his flights booked so I just piggy-backed on him,” said Beattie after arriving for the three-day Six Nations preparation camp at Ravenscraig.
The former Glasgow favourite wasn’t specifically told he was omitted when he spoke to the coaches before last week’s announcement, but he realised that he wasn’t going to be first in line.
“We’d spoken about strengths and weaknesses, the different composition of the squad, but whether I’d be in or not they didn’t say,” he said.
“Then the squad came out. I think it’s the same things as before, they want someone playing tight, running off the scrum-half, while I’d been playing looser, working off 10 or 12.
“I’ve tried to tighten up a bit, and maybe they spotted that in our match against Quins, although we didn’t play well as a team and I didn’t do anything extraordinary.
“It’s the same every week in pro rugby, you’re in an audition every time. It’s like doing a job application every week, but in a very public forum, seeing if someone wants to employ you.”
Beattie has been in a struggling team, but he wants to be judged on his work with Scotland rather than Castres, lying second bottom of the Top 14.
“It has been tricky for the player and the coaches who know they’re getting replaced at the end of the season already,” he said. “It’s been a test for Richie and I to try and bring the guys together and say “if we work we can fight our way out of this”. It works with some of the guys but not with others.
“It’s good to get away and come here to a very different environment, different coaches, seeing friendly faces.
“Richie and I are looking forward to getting back because we’ve got a big game at home to Toulouse this weekend that will make or break our season. We’re 13th out of 14, so clearly things need to change.
“But I think you should always be judged on how you play when you come back and play for Scotland. It’s different structures and methods, and if I get the chance I plan to show how well I can do playing in the national side.”
Beattie’s target is the World Cup later this year, having narrowly missed out of selection four years ago.
“It’s a personal target but I think this year is going to harder than the last two to get in,” he continued. “You’ve got Adam Ashe coming back from injury, you have Dents, and Josh Strauss coming in to qualify so that’s three top drawer No 8s already.
“I have to stick my hand in and challenge as a 6-stroke-8. It’s a personal target, it always has been but I understand it’ll be hard this year and I have to fight my way through.”
In the meantime, from his perspective in enemy territory, he feels Scotland have a great chance to upset the French in Paris a week on Saturday.
“France are tricky to judge because they’re so up and down – when I arrived at Montpellier they were taking the mickey out of me saying “looking forward to the wooden spoon?” and it was actually them that ended up with it that year.
“They have a different set up in backroom staff, they were stale last year and have freshened up massively. It’ll be a huge game for us and a scalp we could take in the first game, going there.
“If you let them play they can be a frightening prospect but if you put pressure on them they can get a bit flaky.”