Sean Lamont will “never officially retire” from international rugby but he would accept being dropped if Scotland went on to win the RBS 6 Nations Championship.
The Perth-born wing reaches the 75-cap milestone as Scotland go for three successive Six Nations wins, taking on Wales at Murrayfield, and is as enthused as ever about playing for his country, saying that he will never quit.
“I’d play for Scotland at 60 or 70 but I hope to God Scotland are not that desperate then,” he said. “75 caps is nice but it’s not the number I plan to finish on.
“I’ll play for as long as I’m needed or required, I’ll never officially retire, I could never bring myself to. I’ll just be surplus to requirements one day.”
That day may be some way off as Lamont feels re-energised by the team’s two successive wins and Glasgow’s successes in the Rabodirect PRO12, having been through the mill during some of Scotland’s darkest days of the last few years.
But for one serious knee injury “my brother’s taken my share of injuries” and being dropped just the once a couple of years ago, he’s been a fixture since first being capped against Samoa in Wellington in 2004.
“There’s no feeling like your first cap,” recalled Lamont.
“You’re young and it’s something you’ve always wanted to do, play for your nation, so when it comes there is no other feeling like it and I think every player’s the same.
“I’ve still got the jumper. The only ones I’ve kept are my first and my 50th so far and the rest get shipped about to whoever wants them but the first one’s always the most special.”
This latest run is great, he continued, but it will only match that first cap feeling if Scotland go on to beat Wales and France.
“It’s a completely different feeling from this time last year that was almost soul-destroying but, while it’s been good so far, we don’t want it to be flash in the pan,” he said.
“One win meant nothing if we didn’t back it up against Ireland and we were lucky there they broke us twice and they bombed two chances, maybe even three.
“I’m glad we got the luck, but we know what we need to do different this weekend. We want this weekend but we also want the future.
“We want this to turn into something that will snowball and keep us fighting up there for as long as possible.”
If that might mean Sean had no part in it, he’s fine with that just about.
“This tournament is still open,” he pointed out. “OK, we might need England to drop one, but they have been known to do that in the past, so if we can win every game from here it puts us in with a chance and it would be great for Scotland.
“I would love to see us do that. I wouldn’t care if I was dropped tomorrow after this Wales game as long as the team went on and did something.
“For me nobody’s bigger than the team.”
The method of victory doesn’t matter to Sean, even if it were another nail-biting backs-to-the-wall siege to match the Irish game.
“I think Kelly said this week that he’s tired of winning ugly, but I’ll take an ugly win as long as it’s a win,” he added.
Lamont only left the Scarlets in the summer and retains many friends in the Welsh camp, specifically young backs Jonathan Davies and George North, whom he mentored when down at Llanelli.
“It’s only when you’ve finished that you catch up with mates,” he said.
“There’s no mates on the pitch for 80 minutes. It’s just like playing strangers.
“Maybe you know their traits a little bit better.
“Take George I’ve spent time seeing him develop from being a young guy just coming in and I know what he’s like, his traits, what his preferences are, the way he’s carrying or tackling, or things like that, so you do have a bit of inside knowledge.”