Scotland's class of '02 proves bold selection pays off

ALASDAIR REID reports in The Herald

Craig Smith, the former Edinburgh and Scotland prop, tells a good story about the day he won his first cap.

Or, rather, about the day he didn't win his first cap. Which is why the story is so good.

It was 15 June 2002, and Smith, then 23, was making his long-awaited international debut against Canada in Vancouver on that year's short tour to North America. Some gloss was taken off the occasion by the fact that Canada won 26-23, but Smith was now a Test player. He had fulfilled his childhood dream.

But at the end of the day he had nothing to show for it. The traditional protocol with Scotland is that the caps are handed out to players at an after-match ceremony, but Smith was denied his moment of glory. As six other players earned caps that day, he was sheepishly told that they had run out of the things and didn't have one to give him.

In which light, it was reassuring to hear yesterday that Scotland's logistical operations seem to be running more smoothly these days. With nine uncapped players in the squad that set out for South Africa, an appropriate number of caps was packed into the squad luggage. And by Saturday evening, every one of them will have a new owner.

Six players made their debuts against Samoa six days ago, and another three are due to run out against South Africa tomorrow. And it might not even stop there, for it is still possible that Gordon Reid or Fraser Thomson – or even both – could be Scotland players by the end of the weekend, given the lingering injury concerns over Euan Murray and Steve Lawrie.

It is an astonishing turnover of players. Granted, injuries have played a part, but is was pretty clear yesterday that Scott Johnson, the Scotland head coach, actually meant it when he said a few weeks ago that he wanted to widen the pool of international experience available to Scotland. By last night, that pool had grown to the size of an ocean.

There are those who will say that Johnson is giving away cheap caps. Or, rather, that caps are cheapened by the way he gives them away. I have a degree of sympathy for the viewpoint, and more for those old players of the past who never had the opportunities to get on an international pitch that the players of today now have. But, with a World Cup looming, and with a demographic time-bomb ticking beside certain key positions, Johnson's strategy is understandable.

We are past the stage where players are bundled off to the knacker's yard as their 30th birthdays loom. Toulon won the Heineken Cup last month with a pack whose eight members had all passed that landmark. But while such thirty-something Scottish stalwarts as Al Kellock, Euan Murray, Kelly Brown, Jim Hamilton and Al Strokosch can still do handsome shifts for their country, there is no harm in doing a spot of succession planning as they do so.

Johnson talked about unearthing diamonds on this tour. Well, South Africa is certainly a decent choice of venue as far as that activity is concerned. But as the vast spoil heaps that surround Johannesburg and Kimberley still testify, you've got to sift a lot of dirt to get there.

So let's go back to 2002 and see what happened the last time Scotland were so bold. All things considered, the strike rate wasn't so bad that day. In fact, it was actually rather good, which may even beg the question whether players who enter the international arena away from the baleful glare of the Six Nations spotlight could actually be all the stronger for doing so.

For the record, the players who got their caps – or not – that day in Vancouver were Mike Blair (who would go on to make 85 Scotland appearances), Andy Craig (23), Ben Hinshelwood (19), Allan Jacobsen (65), Rory Kerr (3), Donnie McFadyen (11) and Smith (25). Of that lot, only Kerr did not really become an established international player over the next few years. McFadyen would surely have won many more had his career not been curtailed by injuries.

So, a decent crop. And remember, they lost. Which is to say, that it's not the greatest disaster in the world to fluff your lines on the first day, if you can come back stronger for the experience. Which, conveniently, brings us back to another good story about Smith's debut.

The prop's abilities had first become obvious a few years earlier when he burst on the scene with Melrose, a teenage prodigy with astonishing scrummaging strength for one so young. "If Smith doesn't get a Scotland cap," declared rugby pundit John Beattie in his newspaper column at the time, "I'll eat my underpants."

It's fair to say that Smith was not the only one who had reasons to be cheerful that day.

THE NEW BOYS

PETER MURCHIE

Full-back. Age: 27

A late bloomer, the former Bath Academy player bobbed around the lower league in England, playing for Waterloo and Pertemps Bees and London Welsh before moving to Glasgow in 2009. Started this season superbly as he deputised for the injured Stuart Hogg. Famously strong under the high ball, he has played a number of times for Scotland A. Earns eligibility through his father, who was born in Ayrshire.

Coach Johnson says: "He reminds me of Lee Byrne. He's great in the air. I like his maturity and how he's hard to break as a final line. I watched Glasgow's first Heineken Cup game at Northampton, when Stuart Hogg got hurt early, and I thought Peter was unbelievable."

TOMMY SEYMOUR

Winger. 24

A man of many parts and almost as many passport stamps. Seymour was born in Nashville, Tennessee, spent some of his childhood in Dubai and passed his teenage years

in Northern Ireland. That part of his background brought him under the wing of Ulster, his first professional club. A strong runner and a fearless defender, he is also a prolific tryscorer and has no lack of confidence in himself. His mother was born in Glasgow.

Coach Johnson says:

"Every time I see Tommy he surprises me. He's got a great work ethic, is quite quick and what I really like is that he chases everything, and that is important for us. It's a great quality and I feel that should be rewarded."

TIM SWINSON

Lock. 26

Hard as nails and happy to fight fire with fire. Swinson joined Glasgow from Newcastle Falcons last year and made no secret of his desire to win a Scotland cap. Keenly intelligent – he has just embarked on a Masters in politics – he is a big character as well as a big bloke. His maternal grandmother hails from Glasgow and he is distantly related to Jo Swinson, the Lib-Dem MP for East Dunbartonshire.

Coach Johnson says:

"Tim belies his upbringing. Let's just say that he's private school and has all the right things in life, but he wears a good big chip on his shoulder and I like that. He showed that with Glasgow this year and has been great. He's an exception to my rule I think and that's a good thing."

This article was posted on 14-Jun-2013, 07:06 by Hugh Barrow.