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'We're not going to sit in our hotel rooms and cry for a week'

John Barclay looks dejected during Scotland's defeat Ireland in Yokohama (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

John Barclay says accusations that Scotland’s players look like they do not care have “hurt” the squad and has defended their right to enjoy their downtime. Gregor Townsend’s men have undergone a week of soul searching since their calamitous defeat to Ireland in Yokohama last Sunday.

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Slowly but surely the players have started to re-emerge from their dejection and have been spotted taking in the sights of Kobe, where they face Samoa on Monday. Vice-captain Barclay knows a win against the Pacific Islanders would be the perfect way to put a smile back on the faces of the nation’s disgruntled supporters and said dwelling on the Ireland performance would be detrimental.

The back row said: “The aftermath of last week’s game wasn’t very nice for various reasons, but we’ve moved on. We’ve got other games to play, so we have moved on. The first couple of days were pretty crap. You analyse it, overanalyse it and go over it and over it again. It’s something we don’t take lightly. I’ve heard some people say it looks like we don’t care, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

“That hurts players and we take that on board, but we have tried to have fun. We’re not going to sit in our hotel rooms and cry for a week. We can’t do that, so we’ve been out exploring. We’re here at a World Cup, it’s a great opportunity and we’ve got another opportunity on Monday against Samoa.

“I understand some people find it potentially frustrating to see us out and some people see a snippet on social media and it looks like people don’t care. But the reality is we do care, but we can’t stay in our rooms and just do nothing because that would be ridiculous and not good for the culture, and the boys have got to move on, have fun and remind ourselves we’ve got a big game this week.”

(Continue reading below…)

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As a former Scotland captain himself, Barclay knows the dark moments that Stuart McInally – the new holder of that position – will have faced this week. But he says the senior members of the squad have gathered around the hooker to ensure he does not bear the burden of lifting the squad himself.

“It’s not just been Stuart, to be honest,” he explained. “Guys have helped. My experience of being captain is that it can be quite lonely at times. I definitely felt that when you talk during the week about what you’re going to do as captain… if you have a bad game, then you feel kind of hypocritical.

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“I’d analyse myself and then think, ‘How can you say these things when you perform like that?’ So it’s hard being a captain from that point of view and that’s why you have a group of leaders who help. We’ve got experienced guys throughout to help Stuart and it’s been a bit of a group effort to work out how we can improve, how can we fix problems, because ultimately we want to qualify from the group and we’ve still got a chance to do that.”

Scotland were always the outsiders against Joe Schmidt’s team, but they gifted Ireland victory with the number of crucial errors they made at the International Stadium. Barclay is adamant there will be no repeat of that horror show in Kobe.

“I don’t think it will happen again, certainly not this week,” he declared. “You can overanalyse everything, try to find solutions.  “Probably what’s more important is we prepare right for this week and get it right this week, rather than keep looking back.”

– Press Association 

WATCH: Reece Hodge’s ban, Rob Howley’s betting habits, Scotland’s failures and more… RugbyPass has the inside scoop from some rowdy World Cup fans

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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