ON THE day Scotland’s players and fans were boosted by the maker of our other national drink, captain Greig Laidlaw put the fizz into the run-up to Saturday’s Calcutta Cup match with a rallying cry to the men in dark blue.

Irn-Bru maker AG Barr were announced yesterday as the official soft drink partner of Scottish Rugby for the next three years, supporting the national team and sevens, plus Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Over the last 18 months, the firm supplied more than 200,000 bottles of Strathmore water to Scotland’s top rugby players. No doubt Scotland’s fans have consumed many more bottles of Irn-Bru, not least to cure hangovers.

Laidlaw and his men don’t need the orange stuff, nor even the hard stuff, but the bitter taste of a World Cup defeat at the whistle of an incompetent referee has gone. Laidlaw recently watched the quarter-final against Australia again, including the decision that robbed Scotland of victory.

The Scotland captain said ahead of his team’s RBS Six Nations opener: “Watching the game for the first time in full, I got excited. I was able to take the emotion away from it and crikey, we played some good rugby. It gave me a great feeling. The anger will never disappear but we can use it in the right way. I got a lot out of it. We played well but could have played even better.

”They will need to do that against England. “We need to move on from the World Cup now,” Laidlaw added. “We’ll go out there with confidence. We have to. We want to turn Murrayfield into a place that is extremely hard for visiting teams to come. It’s going to be a tough game. England have good players and a strong set-up but we know the task ahead.”

Laidlaw will equal his uncle Roy’s 47 caps at scrum-half on Saturday and knows Scotland have under-performed in the tournament in the past compared to the elder Laidlaw’s time, which included the 1984 Grand Slam. He said: “As a team, this is our time in the jersey. If we can be the team who turned that around, that would be a great legacy for us to leave for the next group.

“The Six Nations is a momentum-based tournament so if you can win early it gives you confidence. Winning your home games is also extremely important. History shows a defeat in the first game is not good, so it’s a big game this weekend. We understand that.”Laidlaw is also bemused by England coach Eddie Jones’s seeming inability to decide who the favourites are for Saturday – he did say Scotland but may have had second thoughts.

“The more talking he does about us, hopefully the less he’s concentrating on England,” said Laidlaw, who doesn’t even know the odds. “You’ll have to phone the bookmakers – I’m not a betting man. We just have to control the controllables. We will roll up our sleeves and we’ll certainly be giving it our best shot.”

Adrian Troy, head of marketing at AG Barr, said: “It’s an exciting time to be part of Scottish Rugby with the Six Nations days away. We’re proud of the fact Strathmore Water is playing an important role in hydrating the Scotland team and that Irn-Bru, Barr Cola and Strathmore are being enjoyed by the fans.”Let’s just hope the team show on Saturday that they are made in Scotland from girders.


ENGLAND head coach Eddie Jones can’t seem to make up his mind about which team are favourites to win Saturday’s Calcutta Cup game.

In one weekend interview, he said he believed Scotland’s performance at the 2015 World Cup, coupled with the limited time he has had with his new side, meant the tag went to Vern Cotter’s men.

But yesterday, on being told that the bookmakers heavily favour England, a muddled Jones replied: “We’re happy to be favourites. We’ve had a good preparation and we’ll go in there confident about playing well. Scotland probably had one of their best World Cups ever and England didn’t, so it gives Scotland an advantage.

“In reality, they have an 18-month head start on us in terms of their development but we’ve worked hard and there is still the nucleus of the team that played together in the World Cup, so that is an advantage.

“We knew we only had two weeks so we had to plan it that way but we are confident, we’ll be well prepared. I’ve been really impressed with the players’ attitude, effort and desire to make England into a winning team.”

Jones said he is aware of the welcome that will await his side north of the border but insists he is ready for the challenge.

He said: “I’ve only been there [Murrayfield] with Australia and Japan. It’s always a tricky place, they are canny the Scots. They always have little tricks up their sleeve so we need to be well prepared for it.”

Jones has also called on his controversial pick as captain, Dylan Hartley, “to be Tarzan”. Hartley’s disciplinary record must be a worry but Jones believes he is the right choice. He said: “What I like about Dylan is he’s got a bit of blokieness about him. He’s a real bloke.

“The first time I met him, we went to the kitchen here for breakfast and he was speaking to the people who were serving behind the counter. He was very polite and respectful.

“I’ve seen that with the team, he gets around, talks to people, encourages people to get involved. That’s what a leader is about – getting the best out of the people around you.

“On the field, he’s got to be Tarzan. He’s got to go out there and play with his heart. If he does that, the players will follow him.”

For Hartley and Jones, Saturday will be a tough start in their new roles. For all Jones’s mind games, England will start favourites, but Scotland will battle all the way.