Heineken Cup: Duncan Weir keeps focus on Bath as Six Nations looms

Despite one of his best displays of the season, the 20-year-old Glasghow Warriors stand-off ended up on the wrong side of the result. But he said yesterday that was now driving him to end the Heineken Cup campaign with victory at Bath tomorrow.

And with Scotland’s coaches facing a dilemma over the choice of No 10, he is making the right noises at the right time.

Ruaridh Jackson is struggling to be fit to train, never mind retain his starting berth for the opening RBS Six Nations Championship match with England as his hamstring plays up, and Dan Parks does not fit easily into the style of rugby head coach Andy Robinson wants to develop.

Against Weir is his inexperience and the notion that he is a “kicking stand-off”.

Weir has proven himself a top-quality kicker but, in response to appraisals by Glasgow and Scotland coaches, he has begun to move away from the natural style that made him a headline attraction in his teens and develop a more threatening running and passing game.

“Kicking has been the major success story for me this season so it was nice to be able to put that to the side a bit,” Weir acknowledged. “That’s still doing its job but I’m bringing other aspects to the game now.

“I’m just really enjoying the game time and, at the weekend, I put in one of my better performances of the year, especially in attack.

“Maybe in the past I was a bit honest in allowing defences too much space to come up and challenge me and was a bit slow in getting the ball through my hands but, at the weekend, I really felt comfortable taking it up to them and challenging my passing close to the gain-line.

“There were times in the game where we were getting slow ball and I was still trying to take it to the line and shipping it when maybe we should have been assessing and kicking, especially in our own half, but that’s just part of the game management I have to be aware of.

“That’s being mature and it is coming with game experience.

“If I find myself in the same situation on Saturday I’ll know how to deal with that. But that’s the learning curve I’m enjoying and, hopefully, becoming a better player because of it.”

Weir’s coach at Glasgow, Sean Lineen, was delighted to see him challenging more and, while he knows Weir inevitably still has work to do to become the kind of rounded game controller Scotland would want in the Test arena, he agrees that the Glaswegian is pushing his case strongly.

“I think Duncan has a lot of positive stuff,” he said. “You look firstly at his kicking game, especially the conversion from the touchline, which came with huge pressure, to get us to 16-16. He has a real maturity there, is very comfortable in how he kicks and I thought he shaped the game a lot better last week.

“Duncan’s bringing other people into the game. His short-passing game is improving, he’s taking notice of where we are on the field and what he does to relieve pressure and that comes with experience. But he’s got all the goods.

“He has a great attitude and is brave, almost to a fault – he tackles hard and clears well for a ten. There are still parts of his game he needs to work on and this week at the Recreation Ground in front of a full house, whoever he is up against, is another massive step up for him.

“Is he ready for Scotland? He would do a job and whoever was inside and outside him would have to support him there. He’s got a lot of talent but he’s just at the beginning of his journey. To throw him in against England at home, a game Scotland have to win, would be a big call.”

Weir and Edinburgh’s Greig Laidlaw have been the most consistent stand-offs this season but Robinson views Laidlaw as a scrum-half who can cover stand-off, and the risk increases when promoting an uncapped player in the most pivotal position on the field – and in the white-hot pressure of a Calcutta Cup match.

Weir is keeping his focus on Saturday. He welcomed the addition of another Edinburgh No 10, Phil Godman, to Scotland’s training squad as another experienced player to learn from, and knows that a Test cap may be appearing on the horizon quicker than he expected, but that could depend on how he handles the pressure at Bath.

“I’m just excited,” he added. “I really enjoyed the game at the weekend, getting the ball in my hands and challenging the defence and I’m looking to do the same when we play Bath.

“I’d be over the moon to get the opportunity [to play for Scotland] but I’m focusing on Saturday. If I can put another good performance in then, hopefully, I could get a sniff of the team. I can just go and play well. It’s up to the Scotland coaches what team they want to play.

“I just want to back up my performance, do the same things well and keep improving. But, if the chance comes, I’ll take it.”