Luke Crosbie: 'We know we’re a world-class team'
Luke Crosbie insists Scotland are determined to prove they are genuine Guinness Six Nations title contenders as they aim to make up for a disappointing World Cup.
Gregor Townsend’s men exited France 2023 at the group stage after losing to South Africa and Ireland and although competing in one of the tournament’s toughest ever pools, they feel that as a “world-class” side they had more to offer.
The theme of underachievement extends into the Six Nations with third place in 2023 their best performance since finishing in the same position five years earlier.
It is an unsatisfying return for a group of players considered among the best ever produced by Scotland and Crosbie insists there is a desire to end an era of mediocrity.
“As a group we know we’re a world-class team but we need to put those results on the board in the Six Nations,” the Edinburgh flanker said.
“We’ve taken our learnings from the World Cup, we’ve processed that individually and collectively.
“Now it’s time to prove to the nation what we know ourselves – that we’re a world-class team. It’s about getting the results, it’s as simple as that.
“We know the talent we have in our group individually. We know that on our day we’re one of the best in the world. Now it’s about putting that into practice.
“We look at the quality of our camp already, everyone has shown an appetite to show what they can do as an individual and as a collective.
“We fell a bit short at the World Cup so as a collective we want to get better. It’s business time for us.”
If Scotland are to mount a meaningful challenge for the title they must end their long wait for victory in Cardiff – which now stands at 22 years – when they face Wales on the opening weekend.
They have flattered to deceive in the past, toppling England at Twickenham for the first time in 38 years in 2021 only to then falter by losing to Wales and Ireland.
It is this inconsistency that has proved so costly and for Crosbie the key is to ensure they adopt the right attitude in every one of the five matches that will define their post-World Cup outlook.
“If you turn up to a game at international level thinking you might lose, you’ve lost already. So when you turn up you have to know that you’re better than your opposite man,” he said.
“We have to walk into every game thinking we’re going to win because if you don’t think like that, you’re going to lose and there’s no point turning up.
“That’s the mentality we’ve got. We need to start strong and get the result in every single game.”
Once Wales have been negotiated, France and England visit Murrayfield in matches that will dictate whether a first Six Nations title remains a credible objective.
Comments on RugbyPass
The URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to comments