McLaren not resting on his laurels

Scotland international James McLaren has insisted he is not going to allow an unchanged team let him become complacent.

The Bordeaux-Begles centre has been named in an unchanged XV by Scotland coach Ian McGeechan for the visit of Italy in the final RBS 6 Nations tie after the defeat at Twickenham last weekend.

But the 30-year-old, who returned to the side against Wales last month after a year out, is taking nothing for granted before the World Cup in the autumn.

McLaren said: “It is important to have a settled side but I find it hard to feel settled in the team and confident in the position.

“That can be good and quite undermining at the same time but that is the nature of international rugby.

“If you have a bit of a wobbly game, there is a guy there to step into your position who deserves to be there.

“It would be great to say I could have a run of five or six games but the competition is so high, that is not going to happen.

“I was just happy to get back involved and now I have just got to carry on and hopefully I will be on the South Africa tour and then see what happens after that.”

But McLaren was almost sidelined himself this weekend after suffering an injury in the defeat at Twickenham last Saturday.

The centre suffered a collarbone injury in the 40-9 loss and Simon Webster was drafted into the squad before being forced out himself through injury.

McLaren said: “I was a bit worried at the start of the week but I took contact on it on Wednesday and I’ll be fine.

“I ran at Mike Tindall in the first tackle like an idiot last week and, just as I got to him, his elbow caught me right on the collarbone. It wasn’t too nice.

“I felt it every contact after that and it got a bit soft towards the end.”

However, McLaren is now looking for Scotland to build confidence against Italy as they head towards a tour of South Africa and then, the World Cup.

He said: “When we get the chance to score a try, we are looking to be a bit more clinical.

“We have been creating chances but not finishing them off but I suppose you can say that for every Scotland team in the last few years.

“I was saying to Glenn Metcalfe that it would be good to get a team out really fired up, run in a few tries and get the confidence up.”