Chris Cusiter insists the thought of captaining Scotland to the six nations wooden spoon had not even entered his mind ahead of the final match of the campaign in Ireland today.
Glasgow scrum half Cusiter, named joint skipper with Mike Blair after Andy Robinson’s appointment as head coach, has been unable to lead his side to victory in any of his six nations matches since being handed the armband.
Defeat at Croke Park would make him the third man to captain Scotland to Test rugby’s most notorious booby prize since the six nations began.
But the 27-year-old Aberdonian insists his only focus is helping his country claim the elusive win that would end their championship on a high. Ask if the prospect of the wooden spoon had given him any sleepless nights, Cusiter said: “That’s something for the media to talk about.
“We’re here to perform for Scotland and win for Scotland.
“It’s been a frustrating championship. The fact we feel we could have had a number of wins and haven’t got them has been frustrating.
“That’s why we are where we are in the table.”
Scotland have earned plenty of plaudits for their performances throughout the championship but Cusiter believes the table does not lie. “It obviously tells the truth in terms of results, and that’s all that really matters,” he said.
“As a squad, we’re pleased with a lot of the aspects of our performance.
“We have been playing really good rugby.
“Not quite winning has been an issue because we haven’t scored a lot of tries and haven’t managed to get ourselves away from teams.
“We’ll learn a lot of lessons but winning is what counts.
“Once we get that win, we can kick on an improve as a team.”
A first victory in Ireland for 12 years would go some way to making amends for the previous four games, especially as a match against Declan Kidney’s Triple Crown chasers is arguably the toughest challenge Robinson’s men have faced to date.
“We need our best performance of the championship to win here,” Cusiter said. “Ireland are certainly up there with the best teams in the world at the moment and for us to win here in Ireland would be a huge achievement. With that comes huge effort and sacrifice.”