Alasdair Dickinson “almost passed out” in the first scrum against the All Blacks on Saturday, but the Scotland prop is surviving the exertions for his best spell in the national jersey.
The first scrum against New Zealand brought a huge stalemate, both packs pushing equally hard but the ball lying stock still between the teams and right below the nose of the former Dundee HSFP prop.
Skipper Greig Laidlaw felt his delivery to the scrum caught Dickinson’s leg, leaving the ball stationary down the tunnel and both packs attempting to drive the other off it.
“It just seemed to sit there,” said Dickinson. “I thought I was going to pass out at one point. I thought about blowing on the ball to try and move it but maybe that wouldn’t have been a good idea.
“Thankfully the ref decided we needed to reset. It was one of those ones, both teams wanting to set a marker with the first scrum, and it was a bit of a stalemate.
“I’m exaggerating a little about passing out but there was a lot of pressure coming through, two big packs going at each other and you’re bearing the brunt.”
Scotland got a penalty at the reset and generally did well in the scrummage battle, Dickinson again doing well against a bigger opponent and his usual effective self about the park.
“These have been probably my two best games for Scotland,” he said. “Maybe as you get older you get better, and I’m vintage now.
“I’m just really enjoying my rugby, enjoying playing for Edinburgh as well so there’s a knock on effect. The style we’re playing suits my game, I like to get the ball in my hands but a lot of it has come from young guys as well.
“They’ve had the confidence to have a go and play rugby, and Vern’s obviously given them the licence to do that.”
Perception would have it that Dickinson can expect an easier ride this week after scrum-fanatical Argentina and the all-round excellence of the All Blacks, but he expects no let up against the Tongans at Rugby Park.
“It’ll be another bigger prop, but that doesn’t worry me particularly because it happens most weeks,” he continued. “They’ll have a big strong pack. The games against Georgia and the USA the tight five performed really well so for us it’s about preparing the same as the first two games.
“You look at their squad they’ve got some great players, they’re all over Europe, the Southern Hemisphere and England. I’ve played with a couple of them, they’re very passionate, especially playing for their country, and they hit you like a bus, so it’ll be very tough.
“Aleki Luitui (who was with Edinburgh last season) is a good example, a great player, very physical and a tough, tough man. It’ll be strange to see him on the other side, but he’s another threat we have to deal with.”
Dickinson also has a huge part to play in the lineout, and is in no doubt about the reasons for Sctoland’s improvement 17 lineouts won out of 17 on their own throw in the first two games.
“It’s practice, drills, but you have to give Ross Ford a lot of credit,” he continued. “Fordy comes under a lot of fire but he’s a phenomenal player. He’s always working, out there in T-shirt and shorts in all sorts of weather.
“His throwing has been great and we’ve just stuck to the drill, doing the basics well, moving quickly, getting the guys up in the air and just backing ourselves.
“I think the Gray boys have been outstanding, the way they’ve called the lineout, dealt with it in games, stayed calm. It showed at the weekend, we put their lineout under pressure in defence.”
It’s a marked change from the start of the Six Nations, when the Scots lost 10 lineouts in the first two games.
“It’s not so much a change as a progression,” continued Dickinson. “Sometimes when something doesn’t work, you don’t throw all the toys out of the pram and change it, it’s about doing the little things right.
“One throw we had on Saturday Jonny backed a call to the tail and the Kiwis were an inch away from it, it must have been a 17 metre throw by Fordy to our tail guy. That’s pinpoint accuracy and it’s just practice, repetition, drilling. It’s boring, but there’s no magic formula, unfortunately!”