Young Duncan Weir Makes His Case
Pressure can do funny things to a player. It can mess with your kick. It can force you to make silly calls. It can lead to that brazen mid-air collision that earns you a yellow card and lets the opposition get on top. Pressure makes people act out, and sometimes it is not the right action.
They say experience counteracts this. Minutes on the park? Pressure must surely mean less to you, then. Assuredness comes from trying it out regularly. At least that is the case put forward by the RaboDirect Pro12's top points scorer, a twenty year old Glasgow Warrior named Duncan Weir.
"I love that pressure, the fly-half from Rutherglen tells me. "I love that goalkicking responsibility.
"Last year I was on the bench a lot and I would come on with only 15 or 20 minutes left to go. I didn't have time to work on the small aspects of my game. Now I'm getting 60 to 80 minutes on the park and I can work on those small aspects.
"Don't get me wrong, last year was perfect for me. I was just getting used to the professional game. Now, though, I'm getting that experience of playing a lot and I have really built in confidence .
Confidence is as valuable as experience, it would seem. You can get by with one or the other, making good choices or cleverly earning penalties, but if you have both then you will undoubtedly be flying. Glasgow Warriors are confident, but there team is young. They have won games not through experienced gamesmanship and always taking the winning option, but by hustling and galloping, sometimes running on confidence alone, until they come off on the winning end.
Now, like Weir, the team high on confidence is racking up the experience as well.
"We've done well because of the squad and the efforts of that squad. There has been more of a rotation system this year and everyone is getting a chance. We feel better for it. For example I didn't play at all last week and now I feel fresh, ready to take on Leinster .
The stocky Weir relaxes now. "I've had to rotate with Ruaridh Jackson and Scott Wight, who has done really well, and we all feel better for it. Obviously I'm getting more of a chance now [due to Jackson's injury] and if my chance comes to play for Scotland I'd love it, because I've never done it before and even learning how they would play would be great for me. Like everyone else, though, I just want to get on with working and training.
Would that work involve running with the ball more, given the opportunity to showcase talents in Europe? Weir perks up again, pouncing on this particular question, eager to make a point.
"I want to keep improving. I want to get other guys involved in the game. Last year, and the start of this season I suppose, people said I played to a plan and was all about points and accuracy with kicking. I've got a big boot compared to most other 10s and that's what people tend to see.
"You're always on show and I want to give more. Last year I scored against the Scarlets for my first ever pro try and it felt great. I want to take the ball to the line and drop guys into holes. Sure it's about consistency, but I want to make people realise that I'm not just a guy that gathers up points. I want to show that I can move my feet and take it to the line, that I can make the opportunities for the other boys .
After this point it is clear in his voice that he wants to showcase his burgeoning talents, but he is also well aware that to do so he must also rely on his teammates. Creativity does not start and stop with him. He knows this and he is almost apologetic about it, seeking to clear the air but offer solace as well.
"After the start of the season we have definitely struggled in attack. It has dropped. We were more fluent before we played those games against Edinburgh. We just weren't coming onto the ball in those games and Edinburgh gave us a big of a lesson in those games. We are doing well in both competitions [the Pro12 and the Heineken Cup] and both are important, but we are certainly targeting the Heineken Cup.
"We've never progressed before and it is a bigger occasion. There's more cameras, more billboards around the pitch, different balls, different referees. We've now got a chance against Leinster.
"To do this we need more tempo and we need more guys coming onto the ball, but we do have strength in depth. Tommy Seymour had a fantastic game last week, Colin Shaw is very experienced and Lemi is fantastic. We have a challenge to attack better, but it's not like I have a favourite target to hit: I'm confident with all of our runners .
Confidence. Experience. Massive boot. Points machine. There is an endless cycle of stereotypes surrounding Weir, and he has done well to grow his reputation with those. It has been asked before but with such an opportunity out in front of him and Jackson on the sideline, surely it is time that Weir was given his Scotland chance.
It is perhaps fitting, then, that the player himself makes the case for a call against England rather than me. He has his reasons.
"I'm more relaxed, he suggests, before taking a harder line. "But I won't be made to change. It's best to go out in the Heineken Cup and play my own game. I'll be doing what I do best to try and catch the selectors' eye. I know I can do damage in a Scotland shirt .
