HAVING, at the third time of asking, selected a side which will largely be at the business end of the World Cup, Scotland produced a performance to match, reducing Italy to rubble as they notched up a record win.
A sideshow for the 43,831 crowd, enjoying the demolition on a rare mellow Scottish summer afternoon, was acting as jury in the curious case of John Barclay. He, and fellow flanker Ryan Wilson were perhaps the two players from the starting 15 still sweating on being included in the final World Cup squad when Vern Cotter reveals it on Tuesday.
Curious because Barclay had been not just a mainstay of Andy Robinson’s side, but one of its leaders, even assuming the captaincy on a temporary basis on one occasion.
He formed an alliterative, alluring back row with Kelly Brown and Johnnie Beattie — all of whom have been viewed with an attitude almost bordering disdain since first Scott Johnson replaced Robinson and then, after an extended 18 months, Cotter finally arrived on the scene last summer.
Whatever coaching qualities the Kiwi possessess, a touchy-feely approach to man-management doesn’t appear to be amongst them. Barclay has been largely treated as an outcast since moving to Scarlets from the Warriors in 2013.
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“To some extent I feel I was written off, bracketed with a generation that was older than me,” he said recently. Given all that has transpired, it was a surprise when he got his first call-up from Cotter for the extended World Cup squad before coming on as a replacement against Ireland to win his 44th cap.
Barclay’s 29th birthday will be on September 24 — the day after Scotland play Japan in their opening World Cup at Kingsholm.
Whether he will be able to mark it by participating in his third World Cup is out of his hands. All he could do yesterday was state his case in the hour and a few seconds he was allocated by the coach before being replaced by Blair Cowan.
He had a job on his hands. The competition for the No 7 jersey is as fierce as any in the side. Cowan, the Kiwi who has never let Scotland down, is the man in possession. Another New Zealander, Hugh Blake, and the young Edinburgh player Hamish Watson were also in contention but have dropped out of the frame.
That leaves Barclay — unless Cowan is chosen at No 6 — in direct competition with a third New Zealander, and one moreover who was parachuted in at the very last minute by Cotter.
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Some reckon that John Hardie, just by dint of having been brought into the camp without having played any rugby in Scotland, is a certainty to be in Cotter’s final 31.
Maybe so, but yesterday Barclay could hardly have made a stronger case for his own inclusion. Relishing his first start for almost two years, the flanker was a standout. He won his side’s third penalty, allowing Greig Laidlaw to make the score 16-0 — and take his own personal tally to over 350 points — after 26 minutes. Eleven minutes later he did even better, charging over the line from close range for his third international try.
Barclay was also one of the architects of Tim Visser’s first try in the second half, along with David Denton and the often brilliant Finn Russell. Not a bad hour’s work, and just the icing on a performance which saw him at the heart of everything good about Scotland’s play.
There were, true, a couple of balls spilled but he was savvy enough to ensure that the ball didn’t go forward and that his side retained possession. Along with David Denton and Ryan Wilson he formed a formidable back row unit on an afternoon when the pack provided an abundance of ball.
By the time Barclay was replaced, Italy were reduced to a passable impression of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s bedraggled troops returning from Derby. Yet Cotter had his poker face on after the game - and where his No 7 was concerned, especially, wasn’t prepared to offer any public words of praise.
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“Verdict on John Barclay’s performance?” the head coach was asked. “I’ll have to look at it closely,” Cotter responded. “It was okay - I can’t offer anything on it until I’ve looked at in detail.”
Yet if Hardie’s late inclusion in the squad suggests Cotter has pencilled him in for the World Cup, it can equally be asked why Barclay would be rejected if, after finally being welcomed back to the fold, he produces all that is expected of him, and more.
The 43,000-plus jury will have reached a majority, if not indeed unanimous, opinion - but as Cotter is the presiding judge it is his decision, and his alone, which will determine Barclay’s fate.