Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Former Wallaby Jack Dempsey can be a massive player for Scotland against Australia

Former Wallaby Jack Dempsey could play for Scotland against Australia on Saturday.
Former Wallaby Jack Dempsey could play for Scotland against Australia on Saturday.

Jack Dempsey was a “massive” player when Scotland’s Steve Tandy was working in Australia and the defence coach is thrilled to be working with him again.

Tandy and Dempsey were coach and player with the Waratahs in the 2019 season down under. Just three years later, by virtue of World Rugby’s new eligibility rules, the 14-times capped Wallaby No 8 can play for Scotland against Australia on Saturday.

‘Some story’

“It could be some story,” agreed Tandy. “I had a little bit of experience with Jack at the Waratahs back then.

“He was just great to work with. He had a couple of injuries while I was there – a big hamstring injury – so he played a bit but was out for a long period. But he was really engaging and just a really good rugby player when he did play.”

“Jack’s been unbelievable for Glasgow since he came, and in the way he’s really taken to rugby in this hemisphere. He’s explosive and powerful so we’re really happy to have him part of our group.

“He’ll add value and increase competition in an already really strong position for us.”

Tandy thinks the 28-year-old will cope easily with the obvious pressure of turning from green and gold to dark blue.

“These games are always massive and for Jack it will be maybe a little bit bigger than normal,” said Tandy. “But he’s played in big games before, and I think his form has been outstanding.

“With these boys now they focus on their own performance and what they can control. I’m sure Jack will be no different if he does have an opportunity.”

Mental coach joins on Friday

Tandy confirmed that Aaron Walsh, the New Zealander “mental skills coach” would be joining the squad on Friday.

Walsh, who has worked in a variety of sports and most recently with the Chiefs in Super Rugby, focuses on player welfare. He’s to be part of the Scotland set-up in the SAutumn, the Six Nations and next September’s World Cup in France.

“The game is evolving,” said Tandy. “There’s a lot of mental skills involved in big Test matches.

“I think if he can help the guys in big moments and help them perform better, that could add value to us.”

Of the two big changes in the squad, Tandy believes Jamie Ritchie will embrace the captain’s role.

“He’ll do a fantastic job, he’s super-competitive,” said the coach.”He leads and people follow him, and he’s an outstanding rugby player as well.

“He won’t change a lot, he wants to drive standards anyway. He’s maturing, and he’s around lots of experienced guys. He’ll naturally grow and embrace the moment.”

Tandy didn’t watch Finn Russell’s man of the match performance at the weekend for Racing, but said Gregor Townsend was “on top of the performances.”

“I think we are always watching as coaches, particularly in the attacking end of the game,” he said.

“So, we would never say never. But first and foremost we’ve got to really concentrate on the boys who are in for the Autumn period.”

Conversation