3:50pm Thursday 2nd September 2010
HE has been absent for Scotland since the 2009 Six Nations but Bath new-boy Simon Taylor admits he’s in no hurry to return to Andy Robinson’s international ranks just yet.
Taylor, who left Edinburgh to join Stade Français after the last World Cup, sparked controversy last year after ruling himself out of the autumn internationals in order to focus on his club career in Paris.
The 30-year-old insists he has never officially turned his back on his country but according to Scotland coach Robinson, Taylor must make the first move before being considered for international duty again.
The shoulder injury that looks likely to sideline Johnnie Beattie for the first half of the season and rule the number eight out of the autumn international tests against New Zealand, South Africa and Samoa has put Taylor’s scenario back under the microscope.
Taylor’s summer arrival at big-spending Bath, Robinson’s former club where he still regularly visits and where former Scotland boss Sir Ian McGeechan will be working this season, has heightened the clamour for the former Edinburgh man to put his hand up for selection once more.
But it’s returning to form and fitness with Bath in the Aviva Premiership which starts this weekend with Bat heading to Leeds on Sunday - and not featuring for Scotland in the autumn that is currently occupying Taylor’s mind.
“I’m not thinking about Scotland because I am at a new club, I am on the eve of a new season and I’m looking forward to starting in the Premiership,” said Taylor, who was helping Aviva showcase their long-term commitment to English rugby at Thursday’s Twickenham launch.
“I have a lot to concentrate on at the moment, I am at a very talented team and I am in a new country and I want to settle here and to get myself into the team.
“The autumn internationals are a long way away at the moment and what I am doing in the Premiership and what I can offer to Bath takes the priority at the moment.
“I think last year there was a lot made of my availability and then when it came down to it I was injured anyway so my being unavailable was a moot point really.
“I don’t want to say I will or I won’t play because if I wanted to play, I would need to be fit and I would need to be playing well enough to be selected. I will do that by getting into the Bath team and playing well.
“Last year I was in France and I needed to concentrate on playing for them and this season I have joined a new club in Bath.
“I don’t think too much has changed at the moment but I have a lot to do in the first three weeks of the season before I can consider anything beyond that.”
The 30 year-old last played for Scotland in the 2009 Six Nations Championship, while in Taylor’s absence Robinson’s men are on a roll of three consecutive test wins – against Ireland last March and twice against Argentina on their summer visit to South America.
With the World Cup now firmly on the horizon in 2011 – Taylor’s possible autumn international exile would surely see him ruled out of a trip to New Zealand next summer.
But missing out on rugby’s ultimate knockout competition is not something on Taylor’s mind as he prepares to lock horns with the likes of Leicester and London Wasps in the Aviva Premiership.
“I feel very fortunate to have been able to leave France and be welcomed to such a great group at such a top side,” said Taylor, who will form a mouth-watering backrow with England skipper Lewis Moody.
“Bath’s style of play stuck in my mind from last year and once the chance came up to be part of it I was always going to be very interested.
“You want to be successful and you want to experience new places but you also want to play good rugby and you want to enjoy your rugby and I think I can do that at Bath.
“I think the objective for me this season has to be to get myself into the team and onto the pitch and then enjoy my rugby.
“It is always a challenge coming into a club and you have to break into the team before you can do anything else so that is what I am focussing on now.”
Aviva Premiership Rugby Schools Programme will work with all 12 Aviva Premiership clubs throughout the year, to provide over 36,000 pupils at 600 primary schools in England with a solid understanding of rugby. For more information visit www.avivapremiershiprugby.com
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