Redpath brushes up on Scottish history

Influential scrum-half is revelling in the rise in Tartan fortunes. Simon Turnbull talks to him

Bryan Redpath is known to his international team-mates as "Brush". It could be because of the sweeping and tidying he performs with distinction behind the Scotland pack, as he did in the momentous win against the Springboks at Murrayfield eight days ago. In actual fact, though, it dates back to his elder brothers finding him stuck in front of the television set after school every night watching Basil Brush. "They called me Basil," Scotland's scrum-half and captain recalled, with a mild tinge of embarrassment. "Now everyone calls me Brush."

The barrage of kicks Redpath launched against the Springboks last weekend were not quite of the boom-boom variety, but each brilliantly-judged snappily-executed delivery kept the Boks on the back foot, maintaining the forward momentum generated by the purring Scottish pack. They played a pivotal role in securing the 21-6 victory, Scotland's record win against South Africa, their first against the Springboks since 1969 and their first against one of the big three from the southern hemisphere for 20 years. Having beaten Romania 37-10 a fortnight ago, another win today for "Brush" and his men, against Fiji at Murrayfield, would complete a first ever Caledonian clean sweep in an autumn series.

Given the fact that Fiji have conceded 122 points and 16 tries in losing to Wales and Ireland in the past two weeks, complacency would appear to be the only real threat to a Scottish hat-trick. Redpath has been doing his best to guard against it. "The South Africa game is in the past now," he said at a Murrayfield press conference on Tuesday. "If we perform against Fiji we can enjoy all three autumn matches. If we don't, the three weeks will have been wasted."

Redpath has been on the suffering end of a Fijian beating before. He was a member of the Scotland team who lost 51-26 in Suva in 1998, the last time the countries met. It is more Scotland's propensity for failing to build on major wins, though, that happens to be the cause of his concern. True to his pragmatic Borderer's nature, he raised the point in the post-match press conference in the immediate aftermath of the win against the Springboks and he stressed it again when the Scotland team met up in Edinburgh on Monday night.

"I wasn't being negative," he reflected. "I was just being realistic. I think we've all been there before, had big wins against England and France. I played in the team that won in France in 1996 and I was involved in the squad when we beat England in 2000 as well. It's great when these occasions come along, but we have to build on them.

"Certainly, the forwards were outstanding against South Africa, but not everyone was outstanding. The day we get more players playing more consistently I think our team performance can be 10 per cent higher. We have to be critical. We played well in some aspects last week but if we had played better we could have scored another 10 points."

Nevertheless, the significance of Scotland's success cannot be underestimated – after nine years of South Africa, New Zealand and Australia coming to Murrayfield and playing rugby seemingly from another planet, let alone hemisphere. Redpath is better placed than most to appreciate as much. He made his debut, as a replacement for Andy Nicol, in the Murrayfield match in which the gaping hemispherical gulf first opened for Scotland, against the All Blacks in 1993. They lost 51-15 that day. They were also beaten 68-10 by the Springboks in 1997, conceding 10 tries in the process.

Last weekend they kept their try-line intact – another encouraging sign of pro-gress, even accounting for the weaknesses Scotland highlighted in a new-look Springbok team. The "Baby Boks" were stifled at source by some text-book tackling in and around the breakdown, not least by the 5ft 7in Redpath, who was subsequently lauded by Alan Tait, Scotland's defensive coach, as "the most professional player Scotland have produced in the professional era".

It is a further tribute to Redpath that this afternoon he becomes the second most-capped scrum-half in Scottish rugby history. Having fought for so many years with Gary Armstrong and Andy Nicol for the No 9 shirt, today he dons it for the 48th time, edging one cap ahead of Roy Laidlaw in the all-time appearance table and just three short of Armstrong's record haul of 51.

"I was more aware that I was approaching 50 caps than Gary's record," Redpath said. "It's something I thought I might never achieve because I've been through thick and thin with injuries and then there's been the form of players like Gary and Andy, top-class performers performing consistently. It's nine years now since I first came on the scene. It's taken a long time, but to get to 50 would be very special.

"I'm a proud Scotsman. I always have been. I'm very proud of performing for Scotland. I'd do it without any money involved. I'd love to be part of Scotland being a better side."

If Scotland are to become a better side between now and the World Cup next autumn they will certainly need their diminutive captain marvel dictating operations behind the scrum with his customary distinction. At 31, Redpath is performing as proficiently as he ever has done, having gained a harder edge to his game in the 16 months he spent with Sale in the English Premiership. It was at Melrose, though, that he gained his high-class grounding, under the tutelage of Jim Telfer, with whom he is working again in the Scotland team set-up.

The speed and precision of his service can also be traced back to his Border roots. As a joiner, Redpath could saw with both hands and knock in nails with both hands. Even a mild hammering for Fiji would represent a solid piece of building work for Scotland and their ambitious, ambidextrous captain at Murrayfield this afternoon.

Murrayfield line-ups

Scotland: B Hinshelwood (Worcester); N Walker (Borders), A Craig (Orrell), B Laney (Edinburgh), C Paterson (Edinburgh); G Townsend (Borders), B Redpath (Sale Sharks, capt); T Smith (Northampton), G Bulloch (Glasgow), B Douglas (Borders), J White (Glasgow), S Grimes (Newcastle), S Taylor (Edinburgh), J Petrie (Glasgow), B Pountney (Northampton). Replacements: S Scott (Borders), D Hilton (Glasgow), N Hines (Edinburgh), M Leslie (Edinburgh), G Beveridge (Glasgow), G Ross (Leeds), S Moffat (Edinburgh).

Fiji: (from) A Nariva (Namosi); F Lasagavibau (Northland), E Ruivadra (Dravo), S Bai (Southland); J Narruhn (Hino Motors), J Rauluni (Rotherham); R Nyholt (Queensland Univ), G Smith (Waikato, capt), B Cavubati (Wellington), A Naevo (Kaneka), S Raiwalui (Newport), S Koyambaibole (Toyota Shokki), A Mocelutu (Neath), S Naivaluwaqa (Suva), P Biu (Nadroga), I Rasila (Katalau), B Gadolo (Suva), E Katalau (Narbeth), S Leawere (East Coadt), W Serevei (Mont de Marsan), V Satala (Harlequins), I Mow (Suva).