E-mail Article Print-Friendly Version Contact Us Subscribe to RSS Feed

Jason White craves fame

White: 'This is a showpiece for rugby in Scotland'

Scotland captain Jason White has outlined his determination to make Scottish rugby headline news again by leading the men in blue to the World Cup semi-finals this weekend.

The Scots have not made it to the tournament's last four since 1991, but they have the opportunity to end that long streak when they take on Argentina in Paris in Sunday's quarter-final.

The exploits of Scotland's football teams have stolen the headlines in recent weeks - both Rangers and Celtic have recorded sensational Champions League wins over the past few days while the national team closed in on qualification for Euro 2008 by beating France away last month.

The country's rugby team have a chance this weekend to grab their share of the limelight and boost the sport's popularity north of the border and White does not intend to waste it.

"It would be a massive thing to win," he said.

"It would obviously make great press and it would be a great thing for kids to tag on to.

"I always liken it to the Wimbledon effect in the summertime. Everyone wants to play tennis after Wimbledon and, hopefully in Scotland, rugby will be back up in the headlines for the right reasons after this weekend.

"We continually need to perform at international level - it's the showpiece for rugby in Scotland."

Many believe it will be a tight, forwards-based battle at the Stade de France, and the pressure will be unbearable if the score remains as close as some are predicting.

Frank Hadden's men will start as underdogs, and White hopes his team-mates are not too fired up as they look to cause an upset.

"We are trying to stay relaxed, keep it low key and not build it up to be a crazy game," said the Sale hardman, who played the last time Scotland took on Argentina - a 23-19 Pumas win at Murrayfield in 2005.

"I think we are realistic enough to know we need to play to our potential and the best we can to have a chance of winning.

"Hyping the pressure on yourself is not conducive to a good performance.

"We will be underdogs and we are happy with that position. Historically, we have preferred being the underdogs.

"The spirit is excellent. We have got a couple of things we need to improve on, and we need to keep improving on our performances.

"If we play to our potential, we have a great chance of winning and doing something very special."

The Pumas are making their first appearance in the knockout stages of a World Cup, having finished top of a tough Pool D following superb victories over hosts France and Ireland.

The hype surrounding the much-improved South Americans has been huge - some are even tipping them as potential title-winners - with even El Superclásico football match between River Plate and Boca Juniors has been rescheduled so it does not clash with the rugby quarter-final.

White will be interested to see how they handle the pressure.

"The impression I get from the Argentinians is that they are quite humble people," said the Aberdeen-born hardman, who is colleagues with two Argentina starters - brothers Ignacio and Juan Martín Fernandez Lobbe - at the Sharks.

"I don't think they will be arrogant or big for their boots. The only thing you can say is 'does being big favourites cause problems for them?' Obviously, we don't know.

"But they have had two great games against two of the larger nations which have been impressive, so they demand respect.

"They have players who are very well-known in Europe. They are a team with a lot of qualities that we as Scotland players like to feel we have ourselves - they are passionate, it means a massive amount to represent their country, they fight very hard for their team-mates and they just go for 80 minutes."

Scotland lost to hosts Australia in the quarter-finals of the last World Cup, but four years on they have a much better chance of progressing to the semis for the first time since the class of 1991.

But White said: "1991 was a long time ago. The game has changed remarkably since then.

"For professional sportsmen, it's very much about living in the here and now.

"We need to learn lessons, keep improving, playing to our potential, harnessing a real team spirit and taking it to Argentina."

Watch Rugby World Cup on Demand