For powerful, naturally dynamic men like Josh Strauss, rugby can be a very straightforward game and it is clear that the former Glasgow Warrior likes to keep it that way.
Articulate as he is, there seems to be no deep and considered analysis of the meaning of rugby as he considers the past, present and future, even as he moves towards his sporting dotage. If anything, the gathering years have merely confirmed him in that outlook.
“The age thing makes it easier, because you never know where you’re at,” said the 32-year-old. “At this age, you get injured more easily, but it’s always been my focus, since I started at 19, just thinking about the week ahead. If you look too far ahead, you lose sight of what’s in front of you. I think that’s worked for me so far.”
There was, then, no agonised soul-searching during his 18 months in the international wilderness after having been part of a Scotland team that was beaten by Fiji on his last Test appearance before Saturday’s cameo against his native South Africa.
“I wouldn’t say I’d put (playing international rugby) out of my head completely,” Strauss observed. “When two or three squads are picked and you’re not involved, I mean, it’s still not something I thought was done, but I got to the point where I just started thinking: ‘Just focus on your game at Sale. That’s all you can do.’ All I could do was play well for Sale and, if I was good enough, I’d get picked. If I wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t going to get picked.”
Which is not to say the passage of time is something he is unaware of and, on returning to the squad, he believes his time away has made things tougher in more ways than one.
“The depth every year is getting better. That was my feeling even when I was at Glasgow. There is more to come,” said Strauss. “The players coming through are really good. Time does flash before your eyes. It feels like yesterday that I was a young player. Now I’m like one of the grandfathers of the group. It’s a weird business to be in, because you’re 32 but your mates with an 18-year-old.”
That brings challenges of its own, but for all that Strauss can see the generation gap that has grown between the thirty-somethings in the squad and those in, or just out of their teens, he believes the dynamics are such that they can cope with that.
“We old guys tend to talk about movies and music they’ve never heard of. That’s when you realise how old someone is,” he laughed. “I mean, I’ve always seen myself as very young at heart. I still feel 18 in my head. Obviously the body tells me differently but it’s good, it keeps you young, keeps you excited about rugby, when the younger boys are there and you’re mingling with them. I come from a different background, in South Africa, where it was a bit tougher when you were young. The older boys wouldn’t really speak to you. There’s a British culture, or maybe it’s just change over time, where everyone is integrated much better.”
He has, too, been around more than long enough to know exactly what to expect on that long-awaited return to the Scotland starting XV tomorrow and, for all that he is part of a team that is determined to make up for the disappointment of losing narrowly to the Springboks, he recognises that Argentina are also smarting from having failed to hold onto leads in both Ireland and France over the past fortnight.
“They come out of the blocks quickly,” he said in anticipating how the Pumas will set about seeking revenge for last summer’s thrashing at Scottish hands. “Latin teams normally are very emotional, very up for it at the start of a game. They’re a physical team, they’re very good at the set piece. From the time I can remember they’ve always had a great scrum, great lineout, great drive.
“Last week we were obviously very disappointed with the result. I thought the game was there for the taking, maybe a few mistakes etc. The focus every week is to win. It’s going to be a good game - they’ve improved a hell of a lot since that [last] game [v Scotland]. Everyone has a bad day and I think maybe that day Argentina just had a bad day, but if you watch their last few games, they’ve been up in most of them, so they’re a good team.”
He knows, too, that as the old stager in a back-row that includes Jamie Ritchie, who is a decade his junior, he has a responsibility to help set a tone, albeit he clearly believes that should not be too difficult within this group.
“We need to get the physical side right because, at times, we were just basically outmuscled by South Africa at the breakdown,” he admitted.
“That’s part of my job. Most of my focus this week has been on generating go-forward ball and I relish ball carrying, but the other part is being dominant in contact. If you’re one of the bigger guys in the back row, you’ve got to dominate. That means in defence, at breakdown, mauling and obviously providing a bit of weight at the back of the scrum. So my job this week is to add a bit of dominance for the weekend, hopefully.”
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