Making a Statement - Blair Cowan

One player that made his mark in the autumn internationals was Scotland’s Blair Cowan.

The New-Zealand born flanker, who qualifies for Scotland through his mother, was one of the stand out performers for Scotland as they faced Argentina, Tonga and New Zealand this November.

Cowan, who plays club rugby for London Irish, made his long awaited home debut for Scotland this month, having impressed for a long time for the Exiles.

Considered to be quickly becoming one of the best flankers in the Premiership, Cowan has been ever present for Irish since signing at the beginning of last season where his form earned him the award of Player of the Season at his Club’s end of season dinner.

His stats speak for themselves; one of the Premiership’s leaders in carries and turnovers last season as well as 25 appearances and four tries, he certainly made an impression in his debut season at the club.

And it appears this form is continuing this season. With three tries from six games, a tackle success rate of 83% and 176 meters made Cowan has cemented his place in the Irish back row despite stiff competition from the likes of Luke Narraway, Tom Guest, Ofisa Treviranus and new signing Conor Gilsenan who are all fighting it out for spots in Brian Smith’s back row.

And London Irish will be over the moon that their star flanker has, just recently, signed a contract extension. Cowan, who is only two years into a three year deal, has put pen to paper in a deal that will keep him with the Exiles until 2018.

His form also made Cowan one of Vern Cotter’s bankers for the Autumn Internationals and he carried his Premiership form onto the International stage.

A man-of-the-match performance against Tonga, a try too and grabbing the headlines throughout the three tests the flanker will be hoping he has proven himself with less than a year to go until the World Cup.

Scotland, with two wins from three in the Autumn, their one loss being a narrow one to defending World Champions the All Blacks, have certainly turned some heads.

The past several years have not been kind to Scotland, with calls for them to be left out of the Six Nations following past performances asking serious questions of the side. However, with players like Cowan leading the charge it certainly looks as things might be on the up.

With a strong win over Tonga and a victory over the up-and-coming Argentina, Scotland haver certainly been put to the test and on the whole have come out on top.

The next big challenge will be the Six Nations, almost a last chance saloon to put a marker down ahead of the World Cup. And with both England and Wales having a tough time this November the upcoming Six Nations is set to be a thriller with a several sides having points to prove.

One elephant in the room for Scotland is, undoubtedly, their form against the big three Southern Hemisphere sides. To say their success rate hasn’t been the best against these sides would be an understatement. And looking ahead to the 2015 World Cup they have the small matter of the Springboks in their pool.

Also facing them in the pool stages are Samoa, USA and Japan. With these sides facing each other this Pool has the opportunity to host some fascinating encounters, as well as offering a fantastic chance for Scotland.

Samoa, who’s tenacity and intensity are always a challenge, are one of the all time crowd favourites at World Cups. Despite off-pitch controversy surrounding Samoa at the moment they still ran a practically full-strength England close showing that the squad have not only great talent, but also a fantastic sprit and attitude.

 The USA Eagles are a team that have huge potential and big ambitions. Despite being on the receiving end a of 12 try hiding from New Zealand at Soldier Field, 61,500 packed into he stadium showing interest in the game is growing. All America needs is that spark to light the touch paper of a nation’s imagination to thrust them into being one of World Rugby’s great superpowers and that game may have just done that. 2015 is probably too soon but an up and coming USA team certainly pose a threat.

As for Japan, they are side that have certainly found some form over the last year. Eddie Jones and his coaching team have bought the best out in the Cherry Blossoms, making them a force to be reckoned with.

These three sides offer Scotland the perfect opportunity to potentially qualify through to the knock-outs but also provide the perfect testing conditions to harden them and prepare them for the other sides who progress past the group stages.
 
For Cowan now, attention will be turning back to his Club. Irish, who have had a tough run with no less than six away with international duties and even more out through injury will welcome back their internationals with open arms and now the challenge for Cowan is to stay consistent in his form and ensure he books his place as a permanent fixture for Scotland with a big year coming up.