Kevin Ferrie in todays Herald

Dan Parks has played 48 Tests for Scotland and almost single-footedly took the land of his father into the quarter-final of the last World Cup, but his greatest service to this country may yet be to come.

The Australian-born player who ended last season in disgrace has a wonderful opportunity to redeem himself and prove he is a true team man by acting as mentor to Ruaridh Jackson.

Glasgow Warriors have yet to announce formally Parks will still be with them next season, but as The Herald revealed last month his contract has been extended for a further two years in spite of his recent conviction for drink driving.

At times misunderstood, at times unfairly maligned but also at times his own worst enemy, Parks owes much to those who have supported through thick and thin, in particular the Firhill regulars.

The likelihood is that his days as an international player are over, albeit he is competitive enough to want to ram such opinions down the throats of those offering them. Either way, Parks has a major role to play in nurturing the most promising playmaker to enter Scottish rugby in many years.

At times during the recent IRB Nations Cup-clinching win over France A, Jackson looked the complete stand-off, but he inevitably remains prone to the inconsistency of the inexperienced and is very much a work in progress.

That the 21-year-old has a self-belief which is sadly quite rare among young Scottish players was summed up by the fact that, rather than seeking to build his confidence through public praise, Scotland's new head coach spoke cautiously of Jackson's progress.

"He did okay. He's got a long way to go," Andy Robinson said after Jackson registered 17 points in a 22-12 win. "I'm not going to be bigging these guys up - 10 is one of those positions where you're a hero one minute and a villain the next, so he has to take it step by step.

"He has to go back and play for Glasgow, get in the mix of playing different teams and understand the game.

He hasn't played many games. Against France A he was learning all the time about controlling field position. That's a big part of the game when you're in that position."

What is evident is that Jackson believes he has the perfect role model in that regard, expressing as he does respect for his club-mate and an awareness that he can learn from him.

"I've got to keep moving forward and I don't want to take any backward steps," said the youngster. "I know I've got aspects that I need to work on.

"I've been speaking to the coaches about them and hopefully I will fulfil my potential sooner rather than later, because I don't want to be hanging around too long.

"Game management is the biggest area that I need to work on and taking control of a game. These are the biggest things you learn with every game, how to shape a game.

"That's the biggest thing Parksy could do - take control of a game. So I need to take as much knowledge from people like him as possible to develop my game.

"It's been great on this tour as well working with Gregor Townsend, who's a former 10. He's been giving me a lot of tips and pointers. Now I just need to keep working."

This article was posted on 1-Jul-2009, 07:18 by Hugh Barrow.