There once was a Scotland wing who badly wanted to get noticed with his bleached hair, orange boots and those “stick” mitts.
Now Sean Lamont is pretty much the elder statesman of the national squad at 33 and set to win his 90th cap for his country against Tonga on Saturday, but no-one subscribes to the team ethic more, and it’s nothing more than “a nice landmark”.
“I am not here to count caps,” he said. “I am here to do whatever I can do for Scotland. If I am playing well and eventually get to 100, I’ll deserve it, but if someone is playing well and I don’t get there, so be it. It is whatever is best for Scotland.
“As I have learned over my career I have gone from ‘me first’ to what it has got to be, ‘Scotland first’.
“That is why I will never say I won’t retire, I will just become surplus to requirements. If I am not used this weekend that is fine, don’t get me wrong, I will not be happy about it but if that is what the boss thinks is best for Scotland then that’s it.”
Lamont is not quite Scotland’s “Squad father” he still gives up a year to Euan Murray but he’s a significant mentor to the young backs he teams up with for his country and for Glasgow, and he’s enjoying the new positive atmosphere of the group.
“I can’t put my finger on what’s different, maybe it’s that there’s a greater depth across the board and people just work harder because of the competition,” he says.
“There’s a culture and a generally good feeling now. The performance at the weekend has helped our self-belief, and that has always been a big issue. From playing around the world I know the Scottish players are harder on themselves than any other nation.
“Errors happen. You have to dust it off and get on with it. And it’s really vital that we back it up this week. We’ve been here before, a couple of good showings and then fall off. That can’t happen this weekend.”
Lamont remembers the last meeting with Tonga only too vividly, one of the worst of his 89 appearances in the jersey, which resulted in the abrupt end of Andy Robinson’s reign as head coach.
“That was pretty dark,” he said. “I have had some bad losses but that was about the most horrendous.
“Not just because we didn’t want to give Tonga their first win over us but because it cost a man his job, a man I got on well with and liked.
“It was the players on the day that didn’t turn up and cost us the game. That’s why it was so hard to take as it cost somebody his job.
“I think we crossed the whitewash three times to be held up or not score in that game. At any level, let alone in internationals, if these chances go you don’t get them back.
“Scott Johnson said you only get seven chances to score in a game and if you don’t take them, they’re gone. We wasted three of them and that ended up being the difference.
“We’ve done pretty well at that in the first two games. But we need to kick on.”
Lamont’s all in favour of the trip to Rugby Park in Kilmarnock and the first Tier One test match on artificial turf.
“I’ve played on Saracens’ version and, of course, at Cardiff,” he said.
“It is markedly faster and you feel sharper, when you step there is no give-way like on grass.
“I just think it is nice to go somewhere different to spread the word. We’ve been to Aberdeen, Perth, a couple of tests in Glasgow and we have our home here in Edinburgh.
“It is something we should do more in Scotland as it helps get the participation up at grass roots. That is most important.”
Scotland trained yesterday with a full complement and assistant coach Matt Taylor said that there are not expected to be any problems with the players carrying knocks from Saturday’s encounter with the All Blacks.
“I think we want to continue the momentum,” said the defence specialist about the selection plan.
“Other than Mark Bennett unfortunately being out, the other guys who took knocks are pretty much on track.”