In 2006 Ben Cairns was playing amateur rugby for Currie.  In 2007 he was playing international sevens for Scotland and making fleeting appearances for his new professional club, Edinburgh.  Now, in early 2008, after starring for Edinburgh in big wins over Leinster (where he scored the winning try) and Leicester, he has made his step-up to the full Scotland squad.  Quite an achievement for a player who is still only 22-years old.

Though he won’t be in the 22 for Scotland’s first 6 Nations clash against France, there is a reasonable chance that Cairns will make his debut in 2008.  In the meantime he will do his cause no harm by taking his club form into international competition for Scotland ‘A,’ who he will be playing for against Italy on February 1st.  In The Winning Zone caught up with the rising star to discuss his club form, his fledgling Scotland career and the help he has received along the way. 

Ben first started making headlines on a national scale at the beginning of the 2006 / 2007 season, when former Edinburgh coach Lyn Howells picked him ahead of established Scotland player Marcus Di Rollo for a Magners League clash with Connacht.  But now he is making waves by pushing Scotland’s established international stars for a place in the match-day squad.  Understandably, he has enjoyed working with the team.

“It’s been a really good week.  It’s my first full involvement with them and it’s given me a chance to see where I am in terms of the rest of Scotland.  You pick up so much training with experienced guys like Chris Paterson.”

Obviously Cairns has relished being able to measure himself against the likes of his former Edinburgh team-mate Paterson, as well as the other high-flying stars who ply their trade outside Scotland, like Rory Lamont, Nikki Walker and Simon Danielli, all of whom Cairns is in direct contention with for his place in the squad.  But he reckons he is within touching distance now.

“Being selected for the squad means I am fairly close. After that I have to keep on playing well for Edinburgh and then do my best in training and see where that takes me,” says the young utility-back.

Although this season may be the first time Cairns has been in line for selection for the full squad, it isn’t the first time he has trained with the national outfit.  He achieved that honour when he was still a teenager.

“I’ve been involved with one national squad before when Matt Williams was in charge, along with John Barclay, Johnnie Beattie and a few others.  But this is my first real involvement with Frank [Hadden] at the helm.  Everyone is obviously at the top end of the club teams.  So it’s a bit of a step up from your everyday pro training.  There’s a lot more organisational stuff.  You’re with them for such a short time.  A lot of it is used to getting to know the calls and getting used to working with different players.”

The ‘A’ squad selection will also allow Cairns to benefit from extra time under his club manager, Andy Robinson.  The former England boss, along with his Glasgow counterpart Sean Lineen, will be taking charge of Scotland’s second string.  Cairns can’t speak highly enough of his new coach.

“He’s been awesome since he came in at Edinburgh. It’s a young team and a new team and we’ve gelled together quickly and started to play some good rugby and get results.  It’s testament to how he has coached us since he came in.”

Cairns will no doubt also benefit from the general mood of optimism surrounding the Scottish camp at present.  Despite a disappointing 2007, which culminated in a satisfactory but ultimately lacklustre quarter-final exit from the World Cup in the autumn, Scotland are tipped as the dark horses for the RBS 6 Nations Championships this time round.

With a depth of talent in the pack, plus the emergence of several exciting backs, Cairns included, that confidence is indeed justified, claims the young Edinburgh star.

“There’s definitely an air of optimism in Scottish rugby.  We’re third in the Magners League and Glasgow have had a lot of good performances recently as well, just missing out on the Heineken Cup quarter finals.   I think it’s down to the fact we have got a lot of young talented guys and a mix of older, senior Scottish players that are driving things forward, and it’s working well.

So how well does he expect the team to do in the 6 Nations? 

“Glasgow and Edinburgh are doing well, the players down south are figuring well, and the players in France, Wales and Ireland are too.  We’ve got a really good squad together, hopefully if we can take that into the 6 Nations we will do really well.

“The way the team has traditionally been coached is a wider game, because we didn’t have the physical strength that other teams had in the past.  But I think that’s changed.  The pre-season leading up to the World Cup and the Ireland game just before the World Cup showed that we could actually match people physically as well.  That’s come on hugely in the last year or two.  I think our strength lies in the fact we don’t have one way of playing. The Scotland team can adapt to playing in different ways now, which is a massive strength.”

And what about beyond the championships, does he see a bright future for this Scotland generation?

“It’s looking rosy. A lot’s been made of the fact there’s a lot of young players in the squad.  Me, Ross Rennie, Nick De Luca, John Barclay, Johnnie Beattie, a lot of guys that have come through the systems with the Area Institutes, then through the Scottish Institute and the national academies that the Institutes support.  That has made a massive difference and it’s starting to show in the senior squad now.”

Cairns has been part of Institute programmes since he was 15, first with the East of Scotland Institute of Sport, before progressing to the full Scottish setup.  Their support has been invaluable, he says, and he attributes much of his success to the help he has received from them.

“Their support has made a massive difference.  I was involved with the sevens’ squad leading up to the Commonwealth Games, though I didn’t go to the Games. That’s when I first went into the Scottish Institute and I had a lot of good feedback from them. 

"Bob Easson [the Institute’s High Performance Rugby Coach] is excellent.  If there’s anything he thinks might help, he gets you on to try.  I’ve done the visual testing that the England squad did before the world cup.  Anything that might help me become a better player, the Institute have provided.  That’s a massive support to have.”

RO & RE-J

To read an EXCLUSIVE interview with Ben's new coach at Edinburgh, Andy Robinson, click here

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