Six Nations: Scottish duo aim to give Six Nations campaign a kick-start

Scotland’s two main contenders for goal-kicking duties today kept a united front as coach Ian McGeechan refused to confirm which player would be handed the role against Wales on Saturday.

Scotland’s two main contenders for goal-kicking duties today kept a united front as coach Ian McGeechan refused to confirm which player would be handed the role against Wales on Saturday.

Wasps wing Kenny Logan, who was disappointed to lose the task after landing two out of three penalties by half-time in the 16-6 defeat to France, and Duncan Hodge, who replaced him, both insisted the success of the team was more important than individual rivalries.

Logan, who will win his 51st cap against Wales, said: ‘‘I’m beyond worrying about goal-kicking, I just get on and do it.

‘‘If I do it, I do it and if I don’t I support Hodge. If I kick, he supports me. I think that’s the important thing with goal-kickers.’’

With Gregor Townsend ruled out of the game through injury, Logan, it seems, is just happy Scotland can call on someone as capable as Hodge to fill the fly-half berth.

He said: ‘‘I think the good thing is that someone like Hodgy has played a lot of times for his country. He’s won big games, he’s beaten England.

‘‘Hodgy’s been consistently in and out with Gregor so its good that we’ve got someone like that to come in.

‘‘I remember the days when we used to think ‘Oh no, Gregor’s not in the team’ but there’s not been one feeling like that all week and that’s the kind of feeling in the squad.’’

Hodge, meanwhile, is simply relishing the opportunity to build on his last Six Nations Championship start the starring role he played in the victory over England last year.

He said: ‘‘There’s two or three of us that kick every day most weeks, so its just ‘whatever happens, happens’. Kenny and I are both ready to do the kicking, so we’ll see.

‘‘We need a win on Saturday so that’s all I’m thinking about, playing my part in the team getting a win. No more than that, not an individual agenda basically.’’

Hodge, whose career prior to that match-winning performance against England was halted when he broke his leg in the 1999 Murrayfield meeting with the Welsh, is happy to accept rugby is a squad game.

He said: ‘‘That was probably the worst bit of my rugby career, breaking my leg. It is hard watching the team play when you know you should hopefully be involved in some way.

‘‘But it wasn’t too bad that time because I had the World Cup to aim for, so I had a huge goal to get back for.

‘‘But it has been a bit like that the last couple of years. It’s been first one, then the other. But it’s not just Gregor or I, its happening more and more. It’s just a strong squad and everyone’s the same.’’

Hodge, who was called from the replacements’ bench after just a few minutes of the French clash, admitted the injury to Townsend caught him a little by surprise.

‘‘Nowadays you are running more and more with the team during the week but I had literally just sat down and it was ‘get the tracksuit off’, so it wasn’t easy,’’ he said.

‘‘But we had trained all through the autumn so I knew all of the stuff and it was not too much of a problem.’’

Hodge, who will come up against a deadly goal-kicker in opposite number Neil Jenkins, knows that keeping the scoreboard ticking over will be crucial to the outcome of the game against a Welsh side that cannot be underestimated.

He said: ‘‘You’ve just got to try and score every time you’re down in their half.

‘‘They’re obviously a good side one result doesn’t make them a bad team. You look at some of their players, some of them are world class, so it’s going to be extremely hard.

‘‘But it’s like any game, if you get pressure in their half you do need to score points. It just encourages the guys. You do need to feel a reward for your pressure and I think that is definitely important.’’

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