Scotland rugby star Al Strokosch shocked at lack of 6 Nations action

Rugby star Al Strokosch has spoken of his shock after being overlooked for Scotland’s Six Nations campaign until the final game against Wales.

The 31-year-old, originally from Stewartfield, was named in the 35-man pool at the start of the championships but Scotland coach Scott Johnson left him out of the opening four games, failing to even name him on the bench.

The

honorary East Kilbride Rugby Club member was drafted in for the last match of a woeful campaign, coming on as a ninth minute replacement for Kelly Brown.

But he had the ignominy of being involved in Scotland’s 51-3 record defeat to the Welsh

last weekend, in which Stuart Hogg was sent off early on.

And

Strokosch, who plays his club rugby in France for Top 14 side Perpignan, told the News he was taken aback by Johnson’s decision to leave him out of the big matches.

He said: “I was fit for the whole campaign and came into it feeling really good.

“I’d

played a lot of rugby and felt I could offer something to the team, so to be told a few times I wasn’t going to be involved was a bit of a shock. It’s disappointing because you want to play for your country but Scott Johnson obviously wanted to go in a different direction and you have to respect that.

“There

were no injury problems for me over the whole campaign so it would have

been great to be involved more, but I came in for the last game and managed to be involved in the Wales game.

“It

was tough to be part of that because when you go down to 14 men you’re right up against it, especially when it’s a back-three player that’s sent off.

“There’s so much space to cover and every time Wales went forward they looked like they would score a try.”

Scotland did manage to record one Six Nations victory with a last-gasp win over Italy last month.

The

21-20 win in the Stadio Olympico in Rome was the highlight of a dismal campaign where coach Johnson, who has now moved upstairs to be become the SRU’s director of rugby, came in for heavy criticism for his team selection. Among his omissions were dropping Stewartfield ace Richie Gray and captain Kelly Brown from the matchday squad against England.

But Strokosch was keen to look forward and put this season’s showing behind him.

He

added: “It’s certainly one of the worst campaigns I’ve been involved in

but I wouldn’t say the worst because there’s been times when we’ve not won a game and ended up with the wooden spoon.

“Some

of the results and the performances are among the worst we’ve put in, though. But we have to try and look at the positives.

“We’ve

got a decent team when we can put it out on the pitch. It’s all about getting people fit and playing our best players together at the same time.

“And there were guys who hadn’t played at this level before but got a game under their belts.

Article source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/article-2556388/How-fix-broken-game-Twelve-angry-men-issue-Scottish-rugbys-disturbing-problems.html

Scotland rugby star Al Strokosch shocked at lack of 6 Nations action