Jeremy Guscott’s description of young Scotland lock Richie Gray last week as “slow and cumbersome” and “Bambi on ice” did not go unnoticed in the Scotland camp or by the 21-year-old rising star of Scottish rugby.
“But ultimately we were very disappointed, it’s been highlighted our set-piece work wasn’t as good as it could have been and we coughed the ball up too cheaply.
“Personally I took a lot of positives but also negatives. My scrummaging will certainly have to get better and certain aspects of defence, I made some tackles and they were down to just being in the right place at the right time, but there were certain other aspects to look at.”
The Welsh know much more about Gray and he about them, for this week, but he’s looking forward to it.
“They are aggressive and try to set the tone early, and they have some great runners who can cause anyone problems, plus their rush defence is difficult to counter,” he added.
“I was on the pitch for just three minutes last year, and I’m pretty sure we leaked 10 points when I was on, but that wasn’t a full involvement and I haven’t thought too much about it.”
Gray read and kept the article in a Sunday newspaper where the former British Lions centre, now an analyst for the BBC and occasionally a writer, predicted the mop-haired 21-year-old would have “absolutely no impact” on the championship, steeled himself for a big day in the Stade de France at the weekend and now has the Englishman backtracking furiously.
“My girlfriend texted me last Sunday morning to say I was getting a hard time in one of the papers so I went out right there and bought it,” said Gray. “It was interesting and a little weird, because I don’t normally use things like that for motivation.
“But I had a good read through and it was an extra driver for me in the game, I have to admit, although the only real motivation I ever need is to do my best for my team-mates and for Scotland.
“I’ve still got the article, though. To be honest I suppose his words could have been justified, he could have seen certain games and not seen others and he might have been right from his perspective, everyone’s got their opinion.”
Scotland head coach Andy Robinson admitted that the squad “had a little fun” with the comments from a man he knows well as a team-mate for England and for Bath.
“To be fair, Jerry always knew everything about forward play,” said Robinson, tongue firmly in cheek.Error admittedTo his credit, Guscott has held his hand up and admitted his error after being present at the Stade de France on Saturday where Gray wowed the French crowd and added to his growing reputation as a future star.
The former Lions centre told the BBC website, “I have to concede that I was very wrong in my appraisal of Richie. His performance against France made him Scotland’s man-of-the-match.
“He looks a very decent player and if he continues with those kinds of performances and keeps himself injury-free he will be a Scotland regular for a long time to come.”
For the 21-year-old, however, there were positives and negatives to take from Paris.
“Obviously there’s been a lot in the press and getting some hype is actually nice, hearing positive comments,” he said. “I’ve been getting a tough time from the boys, a bit of slagging, but they’ll keep me down to earth. I wasn’t really aware of the crowd reaction to be honest, as when you’re playing you get lost in the game.