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Laidlaw seeks to banish “humiliation” of Cardiff

Scotland skipper Greig Laidlaw: looking forward to a packed Murrayfield on Sunday.
Scotland skipper Greig Laidlaw: looking forward to a packed Murrayfield on Sunday.

No-one’s been speaking about THAT game in the Scotland camp this week, but captain Greig Laidlaw has no doubts about what happened in Cardiff last March.

“The jersey was humiliated that day,” was the skipper’s frank summation of the 51-3 thrashing in the Millennium Stadium that rounded off the 2014 RBS 6 Nations and the brief Scott Johnson era.

Clearly that result was skewed partly by Stuart Hogg’s red card and Johnson’s elemental tactical blunder in leaving the backs a man down rather than the forwards but instead of writing it off as just one bad 80 minutes Laidlaw thinks it’s daft to ignore it.

“As players it would be silly not to talk about that, and it would be wrong not to use bad times in your career as learning points,” he said.

“You have to use that emotion. I definitely think we will be bringing that up because the jersey was humiliated that day.

“We need to get some pride back into it this weekend here at home. We are coming back to BT Murrayfield and I know the players are really happy we are coming home to a big crowd.

“We can use last year as an emotion, a driver, to make sure it never happens again. That emotion can get us over the line.”

Hogg, although keeping a low profile this week to avoid bringing up questions about that red card, can use it as well, believes his captain.

“You have seen from his performance at the weekend he is a brilliant rugby player, he has all the skills, all the talent,” continued Laidlaw. “He just needs to harness that in the right direction exactly as he did against France.

“What is gone is gone. Nobody can change what has happened. Hoggy just needs to let it go, move forward and everybody has to just forget about it. I will be encouraging him to play the way he did against France and if he steps up to the plate we will have a chance to win.

“I think Hoggy has personal drive for every game. He is that kind of character and that is the kind of character you need, someone who steps up, who wants the ball in his hands, who wants to play, who never ducks away from anything. We need 15 guys like that this weekend.”

The captain however knows they have to curb over-enthusiasm with Leigh Halfpenny on the field, who kicked seven penalties last time he was at BT Murrayfield.

“We can’t give away penalties like we did in Paris in our own half,” he continued. “Leigh is a good kicker and Lopez kicked well at the weekend.

“Penalty count was again not great but if we look at the rest of the game we were pretty strong. There were a lot of good positives, but we have to hold onto the ball as a couple of times we just coughed it up and let them off the hook.

“It is frustrating at times. You try to talk to the ref when you can, and try and deal with it when players get quick to the breakdown. That will be the focus for us this weekend, take any doubt away from the referee.

“My role as captain is important but guys have got to be their own captain out there, be in charge of their own game. Split second decisions have to be made out on the field and the boys need to understand that we are building pressure and it is small margins that these test matches are won and lost on.”

Saturday’s display makes Laidlaw believe Scotland are close to getting where they want to be, but he knows that it’s only going to be accepted if they start winning games.

“I absolutely believe we are not very far off being a very good team,” he said. “I thought the performance for large parts was brilliant against France, and that was not a one-off because I felt we played very well in the autumn test too.

“I believe we are building something but we just need to knuckle down, train well and that hopefully lead to us winning. We need to get across the line and pick up those wins.

“It is magnificent for the players to come back here to a full stadium. It shows the public are behind us and that alone goes a long way with the players as it gives us confidence.

“Sunday is going to be a tough test but if we get the basics right we can do it. We simply have to start winning games, especially at home.”