IT CAN be difficult to escape the feeling in Scottish rugby that the season is heading for another drab finish after a disappointing Six Nations and enough defeats for Edinburgh and Glasgow to show neither side have uncovered the consistency needed to win the Magners League.
However, when one speaks to individuals about what the remaining five league matches mean, we don't have to look far to find a burning motivation. Ben Cairns, the Edinburgh outside centre, has been one of the most consistent performers in the Scot
tish game, and this time last year the blond-haired player was attracting hugely positive comments as he prepared to make a Test debut in Argentina.
This season, however, enter stage left Max Evans and suddenly there was a heady level of competition for Scotland's No13 jersey that took off in this year's championship. Scotland stuck by Cairns after good showings in the autumn Tests, but one performance in defeat against Wales, and, crucially, a try-scoring cameo by his replacement Evans at the finish, heralded swift demotion.
Cairns, still only 23 to Evans' 25, was back in confident mood last week, helping to steer Edinburgh to victory over Connacht, but this evening faces up to some of the Welsh players, back in their club strips at Cardiff, that made his Six Nations introduction a forgettable one.
"That was my first experience at the top end if you like and it ended in massive disappointment for me," he said. "I didn't feel I did a lot wrong, but the ball didn't come my way very often and it was a hard game to get in- to. But it's what you do with the few touches you get and maybe I didn't do as much as I could have; I need to command the ball a bit more. That's something I've looked at since then.
"Being left out after Wales was a huge disappointment – I have six caps and have enjoyed every minute of every game I have played, and I want more. But Max took his chance when he came on and it's now up to me to prove that I'm better than him and getting the jersey back, and that starts with playing well for Edinburgh."
Cairns' stock in the game is such that he was handed the captain's armband for Scotland A's match with Ireland to help soothe the pain of being dropped, but that ended in another defeat. He remains a quiet-spoken, but intensely ambitious individual, one keen to provide a lead to team-mates, and while he and Nick de Luca may be younger and lighter than their Cardiff opposite numbers, he is confident that they can prove themselves the better duo and help move Edinburgh into the league's top three.
"We're under no illusions that this is going to be a massive physical test for us. We got out-muscled and bullied in this fixture last year, and we can't allow that to happen again. The first thing we have to do is match them physically and once we've done that we can play our own game.
"Nick and I work well together and we're keen to show what we can do. You can be physical in different ways and I might not run the same lines as Roberts, but I'm still looking to be as physical as I can be, take the game to them and show Cardiff that they're not in for an easy game."
Edinburgh (v Cardiff at Murrayfield, 7.30pm): C Paterson; A Turnbull, B Cairns, N De Luca, S Webster; P Godman, M Blair (capt), K Traynor, R Ford, G Cross, C Hamilton, J Hamilton, S Newlands, A Hogg, A MacDonald. Subs: A Kelly, G Kerr, S MacLeod, M Mustchin, GLaidlaw, D Blair, J Houston.
Cardiff: B Blair; C Czekaj, J Robinson, J Roberts, L Halfpenny; N Robinson, R Rees; J Yapp, T Rhys Thomas, G Powell, B Davies, P Tito (capt), B White, S Warburton, R Sowden Taylor. Subs: T Filise, G Williams, D Jones, S Morgan, D Allinson, C Sweeney, R Mustoe.
The full article contains 692 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
