Barclay banks on winning

Flanker tired of being praised every time Scotland lose

Last updated: 21st November 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Barclay banks on winning

Barclay: Wants to beat Canada

I know we're not being patronised but that's what it feels like.

John Barclay
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Flanker John Barclay is determined to lead Scotland to victory over Canada as he is fed up of being patted on the back for playing well every time they lose.

Barclay's form has pushed the 22-year-old into contention for a place in the British and Irish Lions squad - however he has only tasted victory once in his six appearances for the national side.

The autumn internationals have so far seen the Scots lose to New Zealand before being edged out by South Africa.

However Scotland have the perfect chance to finish on a high note when they take on Canada at Pittodrie on Saturday.

And after having numerous well-wishers attempt to gee up the squad, Barclay is looking for a convincing win to lift the side's spirits.

"I know we're not being patronised but that's what it feels like," he said.

Results

"You've got people saying, 'You did so well', and there's only so many times you want to hear that.

"Your mum says, 'Your granny phoned me - you played so well'. And you're like, 'Yeah, but we still lost' - it always comes back to that."

There have been encouraging signs in Scotland's two defeats to the southern hemisphere giants - however Barclay insists that it is vital the side start winning.

He said: "You can only talk about near misses for so long before people get bored of that and they want to see results.

"Don't get me wrong, it is great that we ran the world champions so close. You'd obviously much rather that than get beaten by 40 points.

"The crowd got really supportive on Saturday but, again, you can only take so much from a loss and Scottish people want to see us win.

"It is great that people are encouraged by the way we played because if you're playing well and losing, it's obviously more encouraging.

"But we want to win these games, we don't just want to do well. Nobody likes losing, I hope."