GREIG Laidlaw’s substantial influence at the top of European rugby has never been clearer than it is this weekend. Fresh from being named in the British & Irish Lions squad for the three-Test tour to New Zealand, the Scotland captain is back at BT Murrayfield tonight when his present club, Gloucester, play Stade Francais in the Challenge Cup final. Tomorrow, he will watch his new club, Clermont Auvergne, take on Saracens in the Champions Cup final.

 

Add in the fact that Scotland coach Gregor Townsend revealed this week that Laidlaw would have been captain on the national team’s summer tour, and the scrum-half’s importance becomes all the clearer. The frustrating question remains: just how much more might the 31-year-old have achieved this season had he not been injured in the second round of the Six Nations?

Laidlaw explained that he was sure he could at least have helped Scotland win in Paris rather than going down to a 22-16 defeat. Three months on, however, he is able to see the positive side of his lay-off.

“The most frustrating thing about the injury was it was right in the middle of the Six Nations,” he said. “Especially in that French game I felt I could have helped the boys to pull off a good win if I’d been able to stay on the field.

“You get injured and it’s frustrating, but you try to make it into a positive. I’ve been able to get in the gym and make gains there in an eight-to-nine week period that just wouldn’t happen at this time of year. Hopefully that will make me fresh going into the rest of the season.”

While Laidlaw will not have a playing role in Scotland’s games against Italy in Singapore, Australia in Sydney or Fiji in Suva, he will have an influence nonetheless, as Townsend has already consulted him on some issues. “Gregor has been proactive in wanting to speak to me and get a few ideas, which was nice,” he continued.

“He called me up and obviously once things happened with the Lions, he’s asked for my advice on a few things. He said he’ll call if he needs anything at all.”

As for the Lions, having been a late call-up, Laidlaw knows he has a fight on his hands to get into the Test team ahead of Conor Murray of Ireland and Rhys Webb of Wales. He will be inspired, however, by the example of his uncle Roy, who had Terry Holmes and Nigel Melville ahead of him on the 1983 tour but ended up playing in all four Tests.

“Everybody on that tour wants to play the Tests, and there’s a lot of rugby to be played before that,” Laidlaw added. “For me, it’s an opportunity to get in there, play well and show what I’m about, put my best foot forward. There’s been nothing with Warren about roles yet.”

Laidlaw starts on the bench tonight, and Gloucester director of rugby David Humphreys explained that he still expected the Scot to have a significant part to play in the contest. “We’re in the fortunate position of having two top-quality No 9s,” he said after naming Willi Heinz as scrum-half and captain. “Greig is coming back from injury, and in a game like the cup final we’re going to need both to play a huge role in winning the trophy.”