Scotland centre Graeme Morrison knows he has a battle on his hands if he is to reclaim his starting jersey in time for the 2012 RBS 6 Nations.
By the end of the World Cup in New Zealand the 29-year-old Morrison found himself behind Sean Lamont in the pecking order for the No.12 shirt.
And after a disappointing campaign all round for the Scots, that saw them fail to make the knockout stages for the first time in their history, Morrison is already looking forward to getting back to the day job of club rugby for Glasgow Warriors.
And he wasted little time in settling back into the RaboDirect PRO12 as he played a pivotal role in the Warriors 28-17 win over the previously unbeaten Ospreys last Friday.
“The whole World Cup was up and down, to not play in that England game was tough to take but the way that Andy [Robinson, head coach] was looking at taking it one game at a time meant that Sean and Joe [Ansbro] were the combination he wanted for that game,” said Morrison.
“I have no problems with that, though there was personal disappointment. Sean has got great pace and can take the ball up really hard. Certainly the way he played against England in the Six Nations was very good and that is something that they wanted to get out of him in that game.
“People have dips in the way they play and, unfortunately, mine came at the wrong time. It is a matter of getting back here (to Glasgow) and getting on with these guys which is where it all started for me and where I enjoy playing my rugby.”
The majority of Scottish criticism at the World Cup focused on their blunt back-line that only managed four tries in the whole tournament, all of which came in their opening clash against Romania.
And while Morrison admits that they certainly struggled in that department, it shouldn’t take long for the problem to be put right.
“The stats don’t lie – we struggled to score tries. In two of the games we played in appalling conditions but that is a minor excuse because it has been a concern for a couple of seasons,” he added.
“We certainly have the players in the back line capable of scoring points: Max Evans is a world-class finisher, very hard to tackle, and Sean Lamont and Nick De Luca are very explosive.
“It is a bit of a monkey on our shoulder at the moment and psychologically we are certainly aware of it. We are great in training but we need to turn it into points on the pitch by crossing the line. It will come. We just have to have the belief that we can do it.”
