Johnny Barclay is relishing the chance to show Vern Cotter what he can do as he bids to force his way back into the Scotland fold this season.
Barclay, 26, has joined the Scarlets this season and his new side have been drawn in the same Heineken Cup pool as Clermont where Cotter continues to coach for another year before taking the reins at Scotland.
His last international involvement came in Scotland’s defeat to Tonga in Aberdeen last year after missing the RBS 6 Nations and forgoing the summer trip to South Africa to undergo shoulder surgery.
But with Barclay nearing a full recovery, he’s determined to impress following his move to Wales.
“We have them in our group,” Barclay told the Scotsman. “It will be a first chance to meet him and see how we play against one of this teams, so that will be interesting. I’ll be keen to play well in that one.
“Scotland capped a lot of new guys in South Africa so, when the squad meet up in the autumn, there will be a lot of new faces and more competition.
“I have been around for a while and very frequently there is talk of potential, but we need to play as we did against South Africa in every game and really get stuck in as Scotland teams have at their best in the past.
“Vern will obviously come in a year or so, he will have his own ideas then, but there are a lot of games to be played in the meantime and players do not think too much about that sort of thing.”
