“Lift the nation” is Scotland’s mantra going into the Six Nations, according to prop Rory Sutherland, but the focus is also maintaining discipline in the fervour to do so.
The Hawick-born loosehead was unquestionably Scotland’s find of 2020, a brilliant Six Nations and a growing reputation across Europe for a player who was almost finished by serious injury two years previously.
Having restored his international career, Sutherland wants to push on but the squad are acutely aware of all that’s going on in the world right now and what they can do for their home country.
And what better time to do it than on the 150th anniversary of the fixture against England, trying to win at Twickenham for the first time in 38 years?
‘A great opportunity’
“This is a really good chance for us to really lift the nation,” said Sutherland. “We are all going through tough times at the moment, taking all the precautions we can to make sure we get through it and get through the other side of it.
“Taking everything into the equation, with Covid and other sports not being on at the moment, this is a great opportunity for us. We’re feeling really good and confident that we can go down there and get the win.”
Scotland had a strong Six Nations last year and a decent performance in the Autumn Nations Cup. There are definite areas for improvement, particularly the 15 penalties in the loss to Ireland in Dublin.
“A big work-on is our discipline, making sure that in key moments everyone is doing the right things at the right time,” added Sutherland.
“Our decision-making as well, that is a big one for us if we want to compete with those big teams.
“We’ve got to take confidence from our performances in the Six Nations last year and in the Autumn Nations. We had some very good performances against some really good teams.”
A problem position no longer
For Sutherland, despite the difficulties of lockdown it was an incredible year. Off the pitch he married his long-time partner Tammy and on it he was widely quoted as a possible Lions tourist after his performances in what was regarded as a problem position for Scotland.
“It was so special for me being back involved with the Scotland team,” said the prop, first capped in 2016.
“Getting a bit of a reputation is nice. It’s pleasing to hear good things from people about the way I’ve been playing. But all I think about is the game next week.
“My focus this week is putting my best game on the field against England. It’s all about keeping a head of stream up and making sure I do that week-in, week-out.”
De Villiers’ influence a key
Sutherland credits the arrival of scrum coach Pieter de Villiers at Scotland camp with his resurgence at international level.
“Pieter has done a lot for me, I really enjoy working with him,” he said. “He’s very good at passing his knowledge across to the players and fixing the bits we aren’t doing so well.
“He’s done wonders for me over the past year or so, just working on technical areas of my scrummaging. We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, just looking at the technical aspects of my game to make it better.
“Over the past year the scrum has been one of our strengths. No matter what team England put out, we are looking to try and dominate them up front.”
‘A difficult one to judge’
Sutherland’s favourite memory of England games was the madcap 2019 drawn match, but he recalls last year’s game with less affection.
“That was a very difficult one to judge both teams on,” he said. “The weather was absolutely terrible and difficult for both teams.
“We felt were up against one of the best teams in the world and feeling very comfortable. It was a huge anti-climax that we let it slip in the last 20 minutes.
“There is a lot of stuff we are working on this week to try and right those wrongs. We are preparing the best we can to go down there and get the win.”
