GREIG Laidlaw has insisted that his inclusion on the shortlist for World Rugby’s Player of the Year should be seen as credit to his team-mates rather than an individual accolade. The scrum-half, who captained Scotland to the Rugby World Cup quarter-final, is one of six nominees for the award, with the winner being announced at a ceremony in London on Sunday night.
Alun Wyn Jones, the Welsh lock, is the only other player from the Northern Hemisphere on the shortlist, with the remaining four all taking part in today’s final at Twickenham. David Pocock and his back-row colleague Michael Hooper represent Australia, while winger Julian Savea and stand-off Dan Carter are New Zealand’s nominees.
“It’s very humbling to be nominated and I can take a huge amount of pride from being on the shortlist for something as big as World Rugby Player of the Year,” Laidlaw said. “The calibre of player on the rest of the list speaks for itself.
“I’m extremely happy but I think it’s a credit to everybody involved in the Scotland team. I think everybody played well and I think that goes a long way.
“I was probably a bit of a late developer in terms of getting capped a little later in my career,” continued the 30-year-old, who only made his Test debut in 2011. “However, I still feel as though I’ve got a huge amount to give the Scotland jersey.
“Hopefully the Rugby World Cup was just a starting point for that. I’m definitely not done yet. I’ve worked hard on my rugby for a number of years and feel this is probably the best stage of my career.”
Laidlaw is just the second Scot to make it on to the shortlist after Mike Blair, also a scrum-half, was nominated in 2008. Earlier this week, Scotland centre Mark Bennett was nominated for another of the awards to be handed out on Sunday, for Breakthrough Player of the Year.
Meanwhile, Glasgow and Scotland No 9 Henry Pyrgos looks set to miss the Six Nations Championship after an operation on a wrist injury. A statement from the Warriors said the scrum-half would be out for “up to four months”. Scotland’s first game in the tournament is the Calcutta Cup match at Murrayfield on 6 February.
Warriors hooker Fraser Brown will be out of action for up to eight weeks after needing an operation on a foot injury which, like Pyrgos’s wrist, was exacerbated while on international duty.
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