The Scotsman's David Ferguson speaks to Scotland's Richie Gray in the wake of his strong showing against France that silenced his critics - amongst them the ex-England international and now pundit Jeremy Guscott.
"Typically, looking for a contrary view, Guscott wrote in a newspaper column before the start of the RBS Six Nations Championship that he could not understand why people were labeling the Glasgow lock as a player to watch in the tournament. Gray's improvement this season from a promising young kid into an adept and powerful professional had all and sundry picking him out pre-tournament as Scotland's "one to watch".
"Guscott dismissed that, insisting that Gray was "slow and cumbersome", like "Bambi on ice" and predicted that he wouldn't have any impact on the 2011 tournament. Even as Gray was striding through French tacklers during Saturday's game, setting up the field position for the first try, winning lineout ball against Imanol Harinordoquy and getting back to make try-saving tackles, and those comments were thrown back at him by a fellow ex-England international, Guscott shouted "but he'll still finish on the losing side".
"...Relaxed and smiling, Gray revealed that he had gone out to find the offending article and still had it at his Glasgow flat. "My girlfriend texted me on the morning and said he had been quite harsh on me, so I went out and bought the paper and had a good read through it, and it gave me an extra drive for the game.
"I just wanted to read what he said and some might say his comments could have been justified, looking at certain games he's looked at. Everyone's got their opinion and I'm not saying it's the wrong opinion. I suppose everyone's got their opinion and I'll just try to change it as much as I can."
RSS feed
