EVEN heroes have heroes. Jonny Gray, the nine feet something star of today’s Scotland team, revealed he had thought twice about approaching Doddie Weir to say hello when the great man spoke to the Scotland squad during the week.
Not because he was nervous about what to say to someone batting MND; rather because it was the Doddie Weir who played in the same role as Gray a few years ago, and with some distinction.
“I was a bit nervous about speaking to him,” admitted Gray. “Doddie is a legend of the game for what he’s done, on and off the field. He’s a great character. He was open to everyone when he spoke to us at lunch.
“He didn’t make it a big deal at all. It was fantastic to see him out there with his family.He’s a great guy and what he’s doing is absolutely outstanding. It’s really inspirational.”
Inspirational is the correct word for it because to see the big fella with his three boys delivering the match ball before Saturday’s match was certainly that.
And to see him clearly not at his best, and with tears in his eyes, plus the warmth which was clear for all, which came from both punters and players, it was hard not to get caught up in it all.
“All of us in the coaching box were holding back our emotions and our tears,” admitted Scotland coach Gregor Townsend who, of course, played with Weir.
“Doddie’s message and the way Scottish Rugby had put that together, and then Doddie coming out with his family was great and tough to see at the same time.
“Doddie was with us in the week and just having him in a calm way speaking to the guys was fantastic.”
Read more: Gary Armstrong: Emotion and Scotland's effort made Saturday special against the All Blacks
Scrum-half Ali Price, who had one of his best games in a Scotland jersey, added: “All our strips had Doddie’s name and his cap number. All the match jerseys are presented to him to auction off for his charity.
“It’s a nice gesture. The leaders came up with it and we are all behind Doddie. I think it’s a good gesture from us.”
Weir should be more than chuffed that his talk to the squad and his words which were played over the sound system at Murrayfield did their job.
Sure, it was a defeat, but this was Scotland’s best-ever performance over the All Blacks, better even than the 25-25 game
in 1983.
Scotland have shown themselves to be an exciting rugby team which on their day can take on anyone. It’s Australia next and, whisper this, the home side may even be the slightest of favourites.
“When you go out and play for your country, it is the biggest honour,” said Gray. “Going up against world-class opposition we knew it was going to be tough. There are a lot of bashed guys and injuries unfortunately.
“We were happy to beat Samoa but we knew we had to make some improvements especially in defence. They exposed us, so we knew we had to get things right go into this game.
“But two big mistakes against a quality team like that. They took their opportunities and all credit to them.
“We were absolutely gutted after Saturday, although proud of some aspects of the game. It’s a dream to play for Scotland and playing these games. It’s good to test yourself but we are gutted to lose.
“We will learn a lot from this. We were playing the top team in the world and as long as we take this forward into Australia and keep moving forward, then we will be okay.”
Scotland do have a tendency to struggle after a good performance, such as Saturday, and should they drop a level or two against a hurting Australia side, who will want revenge for their defeat by the Scots in the summer, then they will lose.
So, can they beat the Wallabies?
“Come Monday, when we come back in, we are geared up to win next Saturday,” said Price. “It’s a huge challenge because they are on a bit of a roll, bar the result [against England] tonight. We won the last game against them and we will be looking to continue that.
“There are a couple things to work on. Accuracy again. The All Blacks cut us off scrum, so set piece, defence, focus. We want to be sitting here next week with a win under our belts.
“If we bring the intensity we did, matched with accuracy, and everyone is behind us and the crowd then we will get a good result.”
Doddie should get himself down to the training camp next week. The man knows what’s needing said.
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