Ruaridh Jackson was unquestionably chuffed the great Jonny Wilkinson had been singing his praises, but the young Scotland fly-half’s admiration for an “absolute legend” only goes so far.
Interestingly, part of Wilkinson’s praise of Jackson concerned the way he varied his game, when the Glasgow 10 is reckoned to be the running option compared to Dan Park’s more controlled, kicking style.
Wilkinson said that whatever sideline critics said about “the intricacies of pass versus kick versus run, it all comes down to how you get the best out of your team.
“You can make it as complex as you want but, simplified down to its bare elements, it’s about helping those guys in your team who are capable of doing great things, and I thought Ruaridh did that really well against us.”Line-kickingJackson was possibly most pleased with his line-kicking game against England an area he has been concentrating on.
“I’ve done a lot of work with (kicking coach) Duncan Hodge on that and thought it went pretty well,” he said. “I don’t mind being thought of as the running option, that’s just people’s opinions, when I know I can play both ways and it’s important that I keep improving.
“The Ireland game was a huge learning curve for me, and hopefully I brought a lot of what I learned from that against England and I certainly felt more comfortable.
“It’s up to me to play flatter with ball in hand and try to bring people into the game to create more danger in attack, and I’m not going to shirk from that responsibility.”
Jackson can expect plenty of pressure from the Italians, who arrive cock-a-hoop after their historic defeat of France last week.
“There’s been a huge improvement in their defence this season, and they’ve always had the passion and physicality and that will never change,” he said.
“But we put in a great defensive shift for the first time in this championship and we’re looking to build into a complete performance this week to get the win the country needs and finish a difficult season on a real high.”
Wilkinson was effusive in his praise for the 23-year-old from Aberdeen for his performance at Twickenham at the weekend, when the veteran World Cup winner was needed to settle England’s nerves during a close finish.
He took the time to offer some words for the youngster, who will get his third straight start against Italy in the RBS Six Nations wooden spoon decider at Murrayfield on Saturday.
However, Jackson had to admit that while not stinting in his admiration of Wilko, it would have been inaccurate to describe him as a boyhood hero.
“He’s an absolute legend of the game already, with still a number for years left in his career,” Jackson said. “So to have somebody like that saying nice words about you is a good feeling.
“But was he pinned on my bedroom wall? I wouldn’t have an Englishman there. He was an incredible player and his professionalism and way he works is a inspiration to anyone, but not a pin-up, no.”
Instead, it was his current mentor Gregor Townsend and another fly-half with a laid-back style that impressed the youthful Jackson coming through the ranks at Robert Gordon’s College.Inspiration”Toonie was an inspiration to me, but Stephen Larkham of Australia always impressed me he looked so comfortable on the ball and like he had just ages of time to operate, which is remarkable considering how much time you actually get. I watched him a lot growing up and loved the way he attacked the line.”
Jackson’s almost lazy drop goal strike on half-time at Twickenham part of a hugely assured 55 minutes he had in his second start for his country owed much to the “Bernie” Larkham style, but the nonchalant way the young fly-half headed for the tunnel after his sweet strike might have been misleading.
“I knew it was half-time anyway and it was a good time to get us points and level at 9-9, and it felt a pretty good strike right off the boot,” he said. “However, because I knew it was half-time, I was pretty keen to get off and get some fluids on, and that’s why I was so quick down the tunnel.”