Six Nations: Winning is all that matters to David Denton

THE EMERGENCE of David Denton as a No 8 to bring a new, genuine threat off the back of Scotland’s scrum is undoubtedly a highlight to grasp in the 2012 RBS Six Nations, but the player himself admitted that he would find it difficult to take much from his first championship if it was to end in defeat and with a wooden spoon in Rome this afternoon.

The 22-year-old, born in Zimbabwe and schooled in South Africa, had great hopes when he came to Scotland to study and pursue a rugby career that he hoped would lead to the navy blue jersey. To achieve that in under three years was little short of incredible, but with the fanfare around that now behind him the youngster is attempting to get to grips with the extent of the next challenge: to win in a Scotland jersey.

It does not seem to matter to the 6ft 5in blond-haired forward that he has been one of Scotland’s stars, nor that he has enjoyed taking to the international stage in new European cities, which is encouraging in itself, because performances he says are geared towards only one thing, and that is winning.

“It’s very tough,” he said yesterday, prior to his final captain’s run of the season. “We’re a proud bunch of guys and it’s tough to have lost the first four games. It has been hard to keep the heads up, but this weekend’s a great chance for us to start winning ways again.

“You could definitely see the disappointment [after defeat in Ireland], in ourselves because we know we’ve been capable of beating any team we’ve played against in this Six Nations.

“We’ve shown that with ball in hand we’re very dangerous and when we defend well teams struggle to get on the front foot against us. The night after Ireland was really tough, but it’s a quick six-day turnaround and we didn’t have time to dwell on it. The boys got up again pretty quickly.”

He took in the impressive surroundings of the Stadio Olimpico, the home to Serie A clubs Lazio and AS Roma, and tried to imagine what it would feel like today with over 70,000 screaming Italians baying for a home win, that would clinch their first win of the championship and hand the wooden spoon to the Scots.

Denton was asked if proving that the Ireland performance was an anomaly, and avoiding that wooden spoon ignominy provided any more motivation, but he shook his head. “You don’t really need any extra motivation,” he said. “In every game you know what’s at stake; you know you have the hopes of the nation behind you. So, personally, I haven’t changed, but it does put a bit of extra spice on to try and show that was a one-off performance.

“You can see a lot of the senior players who have been around the block a bit stepping up and making sure everyone is pushing on.”

He also has another global star to face in Sergio Parisse, one of the most consistent No 8s in world rugby in recent years. But just as he took Thierry Dusautoir and Jamie Heaslip in his stride, he is relishing the prospect of pitting his wits against the Italian talisman.

“I’ve been looking forward to testing myself against him for a while,” he said, “but in every game so far it’s been a household name I’ve been up against and it’s been great to test myself and weigh myself up against these guys.

“I feel I’ve done well against some of the best No 8s in the world, and I’m happy with how I’ve played – the French and Irish back rows are two of the best in the world and we, as a unit, competed against them, if not bettered them.

“But all that matters is the result, so we have to do what we can to influence things. Small margins again. We can go in and say ‘we should have won that, should have done that’, but the final score is what matters.”