Lawson hopes for nod in Six Nations

Mar 13 2008

FORMER Biggar hero Scott Lawson hopes to be unleashed against Italy in Scotland’s final Six Nations crunch this weekend - and help prove that last week’s win over England was no fluke.

The Sale Sharks hooker was drafted into Frank Hadden’s squad alongside winger Simon Danielli after Ross Ford and Rory Lamont were ruled out of the clash at Rome’s Stadio Flaminio, following injuries they sustained during the 15-9 Calcutta Cup victory at Murrayfield.

Having enjoyed success against Italy two years ago, Scott hopes he gets a chance to show what he can do.

He said: “I was fortunate enough to have played against Italy two years ago and we won, so I’m happy to be going back there again. It would be great to get a result.

“We’re going over there with confidence and it’s great to beat England at anything, but we were under pressure because of the earlier results, and we played well.

“We want to prove that beating England was no fluke and we need to try and win.

“Because Italy, historically, aren’t as strong a nation as some others, this is a really big challenge for us, because we need to win.”

Having enjoyed a reasonably successful World Cup campaign last year, Lawson was disappointed with his lack of involvement in the Six Nations — although he has played for the Scotland ‘A’ side recently.

But he feels that biding his time has paid off now, and hopes to be unleashed against the Italians.

He said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be involved again; somebody got injured and I got back in, but that’s the way it goes in sport.

“I know all of the lads and obviously I don’t want to see them injured, but I’ve benefited from it, and others have benefited when I was injured — that’s just the way it goes.”

He added: “I was disappointed not to have been involved with the Six Nations so far, but I just moved to Sale Sharks and the home-based players were doing well, so I can’t really complain.

“I kept working away at it, and I feel that I’ve been rewarded for that.”

l Biggar Rugby Club star Fraser Brown is also involved in the Scotland Under-20 clash against Italy on Friday.

The 18-year-old said: “Getting the chance to step up, play that level of rugby and prove myself is something I’m really happy about.

“I’m looking forward to it, I think all the boys are, and against Italy we want to show that we can play rugby.”

Fraser, who hopes to be involved in a tense title run-in at Biggar this season, said: “It’s strange to have gone from being saved by a penalty last season to challenging for the championship.

“I think we’ve got a good chance of going up to Premier One. It’s between ourselves, Selkirk, and West of Scotland.”