Rugby: Celebration was for Joining Jack, says Scot

In the aftermath of crossing
under the posts during a 
34-10 win over Italy at the weekend in the RBS Six Nations, centre Lamont was seen looking in the direction of television cameras and linking the fingers of both hands, pictured.

Lamont explained the gesture, saying: “I am supporting the Joining Jack campaign. It’s a worthwhile charity I was made aware of by (former 
Scotland centre) Andy Craig.”

The charity was set up by former Wigan Warriors rugby league ace Andy Johnson, whose son, Jack, has been afflicted by Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

The race is on to find a cure and other high-profile supporters include Tour de France winner Sir Bradley Wiggins 
and England footballer Rio 
Ferdinand.

Meanwhile, now that he has posted his first Test try since the visit to France two years ago and his ninth in a 73-cap career, Lamont is hoping to seize further opportunities to promote the charity.

What will help, he says, is 
being part of a back division given a perfect platform by a rampant pack. “Instead of getting no ball or poor ball, our forwards delivered and allowed our backs to freely roam.

“We now have to back up that performance when Ireland visit on Sunday week.

“We have been in situations before where we have a good win and then relax.

“Winning one game in an RBS Six Nations is not enough. We are not world beaters, but we are settling well together.

“(So) the platform is there and Hoggy (Stuart Hogg) is on fire, Sean Maitland has arrived (from New Zealand) and Matt Scott is playing very well.

“For all of us a 3-0 win would have been fine, because eight months or four games on the bounce without success had brought a little bit of 
pressure. It was a win a lot of us needed and the big thing was how much it meant to us 
beforehand. At half time not a lot was said because we knew what we were doing.

“It was a case of going out, 
re-applying pressure and not taking our foot of the gas, which we have been renowned for 
doing at times.

“We wanted to keep the pressure on and when two of my colleagues found themselves heading towards the undefended opposition try-line, I just found myself thinking ‘don’t get tackled, young one’. We kept taking the game to Italy to get our reward and the pleasing thing is we left a couple of tries out on the pitch, meaning there is more to come.

“One of these chances was when Matt Scott got held at the corner during the first half. I was infield from him and maybe could have scored, but Matt pinned his ears back and had a go, which is what I would have done myself, but on another day things might have turned out differently and we’d have scored from that situation.”

As for Stuart Hogg, he 
maintains he was willed 
towards his second try of this season’s tournament by 
the Murrayfield crowd after 
intercepting 75 yards out.

“I heard the crowd and they kept me going at a time when my running technique went to pot,” said Hogg, adding: “For the last 30-35 yards I was absolutely knackered. It’s not often you get to run that distance.”