Alastair Kellock: Scotland pro-teams must step up

ALASTAIR Kellock has returned from playing an understated role in the RBS Six Nations Championship calling on Glasgow and Edinburgh to now play their part in lifting the performance levels in the Scottish game.

Only when the two professional sides begin to compete regularly with their Irish, Welsh, English and French counterparts at club level will the national team have genuine hopes of achieving the consistency it yearns for in the international arena, says the Glasgow skipper.

Glasgow witnessed a thrilling cup final on Sunday but neither winners St Mirren nor Hearts were from inside the city boundaries. The Warriors rugby team remain the only major sporting team that draws from across the spectrum of Scotland’s largest city, be they social, financial or religious divides, and if they were to clinch the RaboDirect PRO12 crown it would take the sport into a new era.

The SRU is desperate for success to swell the crowds following pro rugby in Scotland and remains in serious need of new financial power, but after coming off the bench for his 52nd Test cap in Paris on Saturday, Kellock’s focus is on lifting the quality and belief of more Scottish players to Test level.

Only Kellock and centre Sean Lamont survive from the Scotland team that last finished third in the championship, in 2006, but that means that they remember the slump that followed the high.

He said: “We have made a lot of progress but we’ve still only won two games which has been disappointing. Some of the performances have been great, but we’ve not controlled crucial games at crucial times. We’ll learn from that because there are a lot of young guys in this squad, and they have done brilliantly well. I remember us playing well in 2006. We had some great wins, over England and France obviously, but to go away and win in Italy at the end was also important. There are similarities now to then, but what we have to do is make sure we can go and push on again.

“There is no reason at all why this team isn’t capable of competing with and beating all the teams. Wales won it and we could have beaten them, and that’s something that we have to remember.

“For me, the key is we have to continue to compete with them at club level, so that when it comes to facing these guys in the international arena we’re looking at them and saying ‘well, look at our record at club level’ and taking confidence from that, both Glasgow and Edinburgh.

“Man for man they’re not any better than us. In the past I think Wales, and England and Ireland, had perceived superstars, but actually, when you take a step back and look man against man, you have to say that we can compete with these guys easily.”

Edinburgh have suffered a disappointing season and yesterday came under new coaches Steve Scott, the interim head coach, and Duncan Hodge, interim assistant, until the end of the season. Glasgow, however, currently sit atop the RaboDirect PRO12 on points difference from the season’s long-time leaders, on the park and off it in terms of financial muscle, Ulster.

The Irishmen are in Scotland on Friday night to face struggling Edinburgh, while Glasgow head to Ireland to take on Leinster, who are just two points behind Kellock’s men in third and gunning for a home semi-final.

Their world-class talisman Brian O’Driscoll is facing a disciplinary hearing for an alleged stamping in Ireland’s defeat to Italy on Saturday, but most of Leinster’s Irish Test stars are expected to be given this weekend off to recover from their Six Nations exertions. Scotland will also rest many who played a full part in the past fortnight’s Tests, but Kellock is one of several Glasgow men who did not start each game and is eager to get back into Warriors kit.

The 31-year-old dismissed the suggestion that he might be coming back with a point to prove or that he was unhappy in the Scotland camp after being left on the bench – young Edinburgh lock Grant Gilchrist being handed his debut in Paris – with head coach Scott Johnson suggesting that Kellock will not be in Test contention for the World Cup campaign in late 2015.

“I’m in control of what I do; my training, performances off the bench and the way I carry myself, and I’m happy with the way I’ve done that,” said Kellock. Grant’s done well and Johnno and I had a great chat about the reasons for starting him, and once that decision was made it was about me doing whatever I could to make sure we did the best we could, and part of that was speaking to him and other players during the week.

“I want to start and I believe that I’ve got three years playing ahead of me at least, and that takes me through that World Cup year, so I’ve got to keep playing well and make it difficult for them not to pick me.

“That starts back at Glasgow now. Winning the league would be awesome, but we can’t get ahead of ourselves. We have big games to even get into the play-offs, but we’re in a good place. We’re taking back to Glasgow more experienced internationalists and have a massive push now towards the end of the season where guys like Ryan Wilson have a greater confidence and responsibility as a result of the past two months.

“I said to him last week ‘you’re an international rugby player now and that comes with responsibilities’ and I fully expect that he’ll grasp them. Henry Pyrgos is another guy using the international experience to nudge up, and I expect him to do it again.

“We’ve enjoyed the Six Nations and our time with Scotland, but we’re in a great place with Glasgow and we’ve got to use the momentum we have to push forward. We’ve got a tough few weeks ahead of us but it’s is a great club to come back to. It will be hard work, really tough, but it’s exciting isn’t it? We want to win this thing, so we need to get the next few weeks right and take it from there.”