When an injury crisis at Edinburgh forced Alan Solomons, the head coach, to pick Dave Denton at lock for a clash with Munster at the tail end of the 2013-14 season, the player’s reaction could be summed up by a comment he posted on Twitter soon afterwards. “First and hopefully last pro game in the 2nd row this weekend,” he tweeted.
It wasn’t the first time the Scotland forward had expressed his distaste for the position, for even at that stage of his career when players customarily trot out the “I’ll play anywhere” line, the up-and-coming Denton was happy to add the caveat, “as long as I don’t have to wear number 4 or 5”.
So was it a genuine change of heart or some astute diplomatic manoeuvring we witnessed yesterday when Denton addressed the question yet again and suggested that spending an afternoon on a series of thankless chores, stopping only occasionally to wedge his head between the buttocks of a prop and a hooker, might not be such a bad old lark after all?
We can probably discount the former as that match against Munster, in which the Irish province fielded Paul O’Connell and Donncha O’Callaghan in their second row, ended in a 55-12 defeat for Edinburgh. In which case, Denton’s new-found enthusiasm for a shift in the boilerhouse is very much of the needs-must variety, a consequence of the sequence of events that has robbed Scotland of two second-row specialists since this World Cup got under way almost a month ago.
The first to fall was Grant Gilchrist, whose groin gave out during Scotland’s clash with the United States in Leeds. Then, in a move that almost literally added insult to injury, Jonny Gray was this week sidelined by a three-week ban for a dangerous tackle against Samoa last weekend. Scotland can still field two locks in Richie Gray and Tim Swinson, but they have run out of cover for those players.
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Step forward, reluctantly or otherwise, David Kipling Denton, who may yet have to answer his distant ancestor’s famous call to fill the unforgiving minute with 60 seconds’ worth of distance run, even if he is running lines he rarely has to cover in his more familiar role as Scotland’s No 8.
“I’m going to go and get my ears taped up, just in case,” Denton joked. “Look, when Grant Gilchrist picked up his injury I had a conversation with Vern [Cotter, the Scotland head coach] and he said that it might be a possibility, that I might need to cover the second row. If I have to, I’ll do what I need to do for the team.”
Maybe it was his upbringing on a farm in Zimbabwe, but Denton has an affinity for the wide open spaces. That much was obvious on his spectacular first international start, against England in 2012, when he went on a rumbustious rampage and covered just about every blade of the Murrayfield turf. The man of the match award is rarely given to a player on his walk-on debut or one who ends up on the losing side, but Denton ticked both boxes.
“It’s a different experience, put it that way,” he admitted when pressed on the matter of playing at lock. “It’s a lot harder to get around the park from that position. But it’s interesting. You have to play rugby in a different way so, from that perspective, it can be quite fun.”
Fun? You expect a player in Denton’s position to stick to the approved media script on World Cup duty, but embroidering it with claims of gleefulness is taking things a bit far. And in fairness to Denton, he accepted that point when reminded of his previous remarks about turning out at lock.
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“No, it wasn’t my favourite,” he conceded. “I would much prefer to be playing at No 8. It’s easier to get into the game in that position, and that’s my position.
“But the nature of this competition is you’ve only got a certain number of players. When you get to the tail end of the competition and you’ve got niggles and you’ve got citings and things like that, people need to be flexible.
“Look, it’s something I am very comfortable with. I’m comfortable with the lineouts and things like that. So, if need be, I can slip into that role.”
Wherever he plays, Denton knows that a fierce physical battle lies in store. Gone are the days when Australia brought a softer brand of rugby to the international table than their southern hemisphere stablemates South Africa and New Zealand, so Denton is prepared for what is coming.
“I think it’s kind of a myth that the Australian rugby team isn’t physical. We can expect them to come at us. They are going to look to play rugby, yes, but rugby matches are won up front, in the trenches, if you like. We’ve got to win that physical battle — and I think we can.”