SCOTLAND'S World Cup may have finished on a sour note, but the whole experience of the entire competition has worked wonders on the players who have returned to their clubs ready to show how much they have absorbed the spirit and lessons of the tournament as well as Scotland's new running style.
"There seems to he a love and joy of the game about them," said Gregor Townsend, the Glasgow Warriors head coach. They had a great experience. Yes, there was some disappointment there but being involved in the World Cup, playing well and coming so close to a semi final has them enjoying the game. It is wonderful to see."
He thinks he is already seeing the rewards as the final group of Scotland players return to the squad heading to face Cardiff Blues later today. Training has stepped up a notch while the sheer enthusiasm of the capped stars has had an infectious effect on the rest of the squad who have had their fair share of struggles while 21 of their colleagues were off on World Cup duty.
"My intention was to get as many as possible, if not all, the players involved before we go into the Champions Cup next week," said Townsend. "Staggering the return because of the amount they played in the World Cup helped us because we were able to integrate a few last week too. You could see with the likes of Peter Horne, Gordon Reid and Tommy Seymour; they trained really well and when they played they were 100 percent committed.
"It is great for the others coming back this week that they are enjoying their rugby so much – there is a lot of rugby still to go but they seem fresh and raring to go."
The latest group returning to action include Stuart Hogg, Finn Russell, Jonny Gray and Josh Strauss with Ryan Grant ready to join the fray from the bench.
The one with the most to celebrate, however, is Mark Bennett, who not only claimed the try that came so close to putting Scotland into the semi final but was then nominated on the three-man shortlist for World Breakthrough Player of the Year, getting an an invitation to the star studded awards event as a result.
It was a great experience for the 22 year old: "It was a big surprise, I did not even know there was an awards night or anything," he said as he prepared to fly to Cardiff. "I was honoured to be selected and the night itself was incredible, just to be able to rub shoulders with the people who were there. I managed to have as chat with Brian O'Driscoll, just to chat to him to meet him was incredible, really, really special.
"There were loads of famous people there, Serge Betsen, Tana Umaga, the greats, it was incredible to be among them. It was a great evening, I enjoyed it."
The award nomination was the reward for an impressive World Cup: "It was a decent enough start against Japan," Bennett recalled "I did not play my best against the USA – I was still doing some good stuff but there was some that was not so good.
"The Samoa game was just strange, a weird match, they were not fussed, just throwing the ball around and playing attacking rugby all the time; it was hard going. Then the Australia game what great time and getting that try was incredible.
"We had done all the analysis and knew that was where they would exit [from their 22]. I think it was [Michael] Hooper who got in the way of the pass initially, so their guy dummied and then still went for it, which gave me time to be in the right place – I'll take it. The roar when Greig [Laidlaw] popped over the conversion, that was the loudest atmosphere I have ever heard."
The strange thing is that he achieved all that on the back of an injury-ravaged season where a hamstring undermined the first part and a shoulder problem ruled him out of the finish. In between, he managed only a handful of games, and now he is looking forward to a run in the Glasgow Warriors colours.
"It's been a while so I'm excited to get going again," Bennett said. "I only played three games between November and the Six Nations and then one after the Six Nations so it was a stop-start season and I am really looking forward go getting going again. I am happy with the way I am playing, I feel I am hitting a bit of form again so I can't wait to play – especially after the way things finished for us.
Cardiff Blues: D Fish; A Cuthbert, R Lee-Lo, G Evans, T James; R Patchell, L Williams; G Jenkins (C), K Dacey, T Filise, L Reed, J Down, E Jenkins, S Warburton, J Turnbull. Replacements: M Rees, S Hobbs, C Mitchell, J Hoeata, M Vosawai, T Knoyle, J Evans, M Isaacs
Glasgow Warriors: S Hogg; T Naiyaravoro, M Bennett, P Horne, T Seymour; F Russell, G Hart; G Reid, P MacArthur, S Puafisi, L Nakarawa, J Gray (C), J Strauss, C Fusaro, A Ashe. Replacements: J Malcolm, R Grant , Z Fagerson, G Peterson, R Harley, R Wilson, M Blair, J Bulumakau.
Referee: M Mitrea (Italy)
ENDS
Lewis
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