Alastair Kellock puts his full focus on Glasgow play-off bid

“HERO to zero” might be a bit strong, but Glasgow’s inspirational lock Alastair Kellock must have felt that kind of plummeting emotion as Scotland kicked off their first three games of 2012 with him sitting on the bench.

Just six months ago Kellock was proudly striding down the steps of the National Museum in Edinburgh acclaimed as the man who would lead Scotland into the Rugby World Cup. He lost not just the captaincy but also his place in the team during the tournament only to win it back but, on return to Scotland, he could do nothing to stop Scotland coach Andy Robinson turning back to Jim Hamilton and Richie Gray as his second row pairing for the RBS Six Nations and handing the honour of captaincy first to Kelly Brown and then hooker Ross Ford.

Robinson acknowledged that Kellock was one of the most inspirational leaders in the current squad, but recognised also that there were close calls between the locks and he now wanted a player he expected to select in every game.

Kellock has come off the bench and did so against France on Sunday but could not quite bring his skills to bear to help clinch victory, as he has done as a replacement in the past. There remains, however, an enthusiasm about the 30-year-old as he returns to club duty with Glasgow away to the Ospreys tonight, focused on pushing the Warriors closer to a play-off place and delivering a first home defeat of the season to second-placed Ospreys.

He said: “It [losing the Scotland captaincy] was not difficult to deal with. I was always aware that I was not going to captain Scotland for ever. Nobody does. I was just delighted I had the opportunity to do it and I gave it my all, just like I do now when I am on the bench. It is a different role but one I do to the best of my ability. I suppose it is more a supporting role. You’re not at the forefront, making decisions but, when Ross goes off and the starting scrum-half is off, I take the captaincy.

“We have leaders and need someone to make the ref aware of things you want to bring up as a team. And when you come on there is a list of about 100 things that might be needed so it is a case of having to pick them out. It might be putting energy into the game, it might be calming things down or chatting to the ref about something specific. I have been captain in enough games that after 60 to 70 minutes your lungs could be working harder than your speech is so it is great to have someone to come on that will say something and I think Fordy would agree with that.

“Don’t get me wrong, I want my Scotland jersey back but, first and foremost, this is a huge game for Glasgow to get the points to get us into the semi-finals. I won’t be going out thinking about my Scotland situation. The biggest motivation for me is to help Glasgow win.”

Just as there is a new excitement in the Scotland camp with youngsters emerging so Kellock feels that with Glasgow, and while Edinburgh hang on to the Heineken Cup quarter-final with Toulouse as a great beacon in the latter half of the season the Warriors aim to stay in the top four – they are currently fourth just two points ahead of Ulster and three in front of Cardiff and the Scarlets – and reach the RaboDirect Pro12 semi-finals for a second time.

“There is a great atmosphere to come back into at Glasgow – a real buzz,” he said. “Andy [Robinson] said it was up to me [to play for Glasgow a week before the Ireland match]. It had to be right for me and Glasgow, but Sean [Lineen, Glasgow coach] was keen that I played and I wanted to get a run out.

“It will be good to get my sharpness and match fitness up, which is important. But these are important games for us [Glasgow] now. I watched the Leinster game in the Scotland team hotel on Saturday night, and you want to be involved.

“The Gloucester boys were in another room watching their Harlequins game and a few Edinburgh boys were in with us, but the Glasgow boys were making a lot of noise, especially when we were in the lead, so maybe the Edinburgh boys did not want to hang around for too long!”

Kellock has always been a grounded sort, and he was never going to complain to Robinson about what some considered poor treatment in the World Cup. But he is determined to push his case and that of Glasgow’s, which also fuels the desire to end a two-month break on Test duty and get back to proving himself again in the “hero” mould by leading the Warriors to victory.

He added: “For me this is home. This is what you do day to day and it is great to come back and such a good environment to come back to and I did not want to come back after the Six Nations after having not much game time and having to find my form with Glasgow. We have lost ground to Ulster and Cardiff in recent weeks, and Swansea is an intimidating place to go, but we have to go down there and attack and not focus on them. To make the play-offs again would be a huge achievement. We have done a lot of hard work so far and this is our final push.”