Scotland captain Rory Lawson is driving the team ethic even though the individual battle for places in the Rugby World Cup squad reaches a crucial point as the team switch from training to a full-blooded test match against Ireland.
Rory Lawson has been given first shot at the captaincy and the scrum-half shirt as the warm-up process gets under way in earnest in the first EMC test on Saturday.
But, while that’s a personal opportunity for the Gloucester player, he is conscious that individual needs must take a back seat, even though players could be forgiven to have their attention drawn to what could be a big juncture in their careers, either going to the World Cup or staying home.
Lawson explained, “Andy Robinson has almost put the individual thing to the side. It’s natural that guys are going to be looking to perform individually, but I always believe that it’s your role within the team and executing that well that will get you the plaudits in the end.
“Andy’s made it clear that he wants to look at a few different combinations throughout the next few weeks so, with that in mind, it’s no good going out there and looking out for yourself.
“We’re a squad who are very much together and I believe we all understand that in order to perform well as a team we’ve got to get our individual roles right, but with the team as the first thought.
“Obviously the guys are just itching for opportunities and everyone is aware that no session will go unwatched, everything is filmed and all the details are taken care of so therefore you’ve got to be bang on your game.
“I think across the board it would be fair to say that everyone is aware that they’ve got to get their own bit right to give themselves the best chance.”
However, he wouldn’t be human if he didn’t see this as an opportunity to put down the first marker about his personal role and the larger one of leadership.
He continued, “I do feel that leadership is a strength of mine and while I don’t feel that my role changes with the title of captain, it does bring with it a touch more responsibility.
“I’m obviously aware that I’m being handed the first opportunity and for me that’s something to really look forward to and the focus is really on making the most of that opportunity.”
Lawson’s chief aim is to up the efficiency of the Scottish game, which means ruthlessness in action.
“You look at the Six Nations and see a couple of missed opportunities but even on days where things didn’t go our way, whereby we didn’t perform, we were never really blown away by opposition,” he continued.
“My belief is that we’ve got to build ruthlessness in our game. In defence we’ve got to put attacks under pressure with the way we defend and when we get opportunities to attack we’ve got to maximise them.
“We’ve spoken about our ability to look after the ball and our ability to break defences down with our movement.
“We want to play the game at a pace like any team does now, but ultimately we’ve got to be ruthless in what we do and taking opportunities in attack and defence.”