By Duncan Wood
January 31 2003

In what was a first for me, this week's interview with Ross Beattie was conducted whilst he got a massage! We spoke about Leinster, his Scotland training and, of course, this weekend's game with Leeds.

The squad had a weekend off, in terms of competitive action, how's morale at the moment?

RB: It's been fantastic. The weekend off has been a good thing for a lot of the players.

We've played a lot of games now in tough, competitive competitions and a weekend off at this stage is refreshing for a lot of the guys especially for some of the guys like Arch who play so physically and can feel the knocks. So, this weekend we should be fairly fresh.

And everyone's fit and raring to go?

RB: To my knowledge! I've been away the last couple of days with Scotland. I think we should have near enough a full squad for the weekend.

How did the Scotland training go?

RB: It was good. It was hard work. They don't mind pushing you in training sessions up there.

But it was great to be back in the international set-up and good to be involved again. It's been a tough couple of years and I'm pleased to be back in the reckoning.

So fingers crossed now for the RBS Six Nations and the World Cup?

RB: Yes. I've set a target to be involved in the World Cup and I never thought really about the Six Nations, I just wanted to concentrate on playing for Bristol Shoguns.

If I get involved in the Six Nations then it's fantastic and it's ahead of schedule.

And you obviously want Scotland to go well in those tournaments. How much of a blow is that Budge Pountney has announced his retirement?

RB: A massive blow. He's a captain type figure and he's a world class openside. All teams hate playing against him because he's niggly and on top of the ball for Northampton and Scotland.

I don't know the full ins and outs of what's happened. There were lots of rumours flying around for the reasons why so I don't know too much about that but, for the minute, he seems to have retired. Whether he'll change his mind soon, I don't know.

Back to Bristol matters. In the last game against Leinster, it was all out attack in the quest for tries. Do you think that we could have won if we'd been able to play a more 'normal' game and kick the penalties?

RB: I definitely think that we'd have won the game. I think we dominated them up front in the forwards and we had a lot of possession.

We were playing a style of rugby, which we're not accustomed to. I'm not saying that we can't do it, but we put together some fantastic phases of play.

But by doing that, and forcing things in certain areas where we'd normally have kicked the ball, we put ourselves under a bit of pressure and conceded two or three soft tries. I think that if we'd approached the game just to win it, we'd have played a different style and we've have had the beating of them.

Is it satisfying to get a run of games under your belt after the injury problems?

RB: For anyone who misses a lot of rugby, you don't realise how much you forget or how rusty you get. You think you're a fantastic player and that you can get straight back into it and do everything.

But it really takes a while or it has done for me anyway, and I make mistakes in each game and afterwards I ask myself why. But I'm learning from it and I'm starting to get my confidence back. It takes a while but I'm starting to enjoy being a rugby player again.

So do you think the Bristol public are getting close to seeing the best of Ross Beattie now?

RB: No, I don't think so. I still don't think I'm playing at the level I was before I got injured. I don't think I'm that far away.

I'm also learning about playing with other people on our team as well. I definitely want to improve on that.

Thinking ahead to Leeds on Sunday, what are you expecting from their back row?

RB: They're a good defensive unit and work well together. They've been carrying the ball really well and have had a big influence on games.

However, each week we're getting better as a unit and, hopefully, this weekend, we can influence the game in both defence and attack. If we're on form, then the rest of the team can perform.

Have you identified any particular danger men?

RB: Diego Albanese is a fantastic player. He returns kicks really well. Also their number eight, Isaac Feaunati. He's a big ball carrier and hopefully we can take away his power from the base.

Also, the kicking abilities of Van Straaten. If we give him any goalkicking opportunities anywhere in our half, then he'll take it. He's really been the decisive factor in why they've won so many games this year. In so many close games, he hasn't missed at goal.

We need to be very careful, in so many crucial areas, not to give penalties away because he'll kill us for it.

And a win on Sunday will help the push to climb up the table?

RB: Obviously yeah. We need a win as we're down near the bottom again. We've got a game in hand but we're not happy with what's happened in recent weeks in terms of dropping down the league.

We desperately want to win at home in front of our fans, and give them another good game like last week but hopefully end with a 'W' rather than an 'L'.