Friday 31 October 2014 17:46, UK
Alastair Kellock is putting his Scotland ambitions on hold while he captains the Barbarians against Australia on Saturday.
The Glasgow lock was left out of the Scotland squad for the autumn internationals, but he is determined to prove he is still a force in international rugby at Twickenham.
The former Scotland captain is however focused purely on the famous black and white hoops of the Baa-Baas, rather than events with his national side.
"To be honest my last game was last autumn against Japan," said Kellock, who has won 56 caps for Scotland. "I missed the Six Nations through injury and then didn't go on tour. So it's been coming.
I'm going to train and play as hard as I possibly can. And if the opportunity ever arises again I'll grab it with both hands.
"My big thing is, I'm not going to give it up, I'm going to train and play as hard as I possibly can. And if the opportunity ever arises again I'll grab it with both hands.
"This is a great opportunity to show I can still play at the top level, and I'm looking forward to it. It is a great chance to play, but you just cannot concentrate too much on things like your own international situation.
"Do that and it would definitely muddy the waters of what is a huge honour, to play for and captain the Barbarians.
"The Barbarians is incredibly special, and the boys from the southern hemisphere view it exactly the same way. They said it's the second jersey any top player covets in the southern hemisphere.
"We've talked a lot about the history and tradition, and we'll do more of that. I grew up watching these games: they are special enough to watch, so to play in will be an extremely high honour.
"You look through the quality over the years and nothing could bring home your sense of responsibility more than that."
Some of the other Barbarians have a point to prove to their national selectors.
Colin Slade and Steven Luatua missed out on the All Blacks' northern hemisphere tour, but remain on standby should New Zealand pick up any injuries.
Kellock has shared a room with free-running loose-forward Luatua this week, seeing at first hand the 23-year-old's desire to press his All Blacks claims.
"I was very much aware of how well all Scotland's locks have been playing," said Kellock.
"There's an abundance of second rows in Scotland, you look at the fact that big Jim Hamilton missed out, although he's back in now, that just shows the strength in depth.
The Wallabies have had a tough time of it, but they'll come out fighting: we've got to be switched on.
"It's never getting handed away, but all I can do is play and train as well as I can. I've not managed to play enough rugby this season to put down a real marker. I'm rooming with Steven Luatua, and he's a prime example of a guy who's just on the cusp of that All Blacks squad.
"He'll be looking to go out and prove that he should have been on that tour. And that's great. There are all sorts of motivations, and it's up to us to bring them all together now, for the chief aim of beating Australia.
"The Wallabies have had a tough time of it, but they'll come out fighting: we've got to be switched on."
Watch Australia v The Barbarians live on Sky Sports 2 with coverage from 2.30pm on Saturday.
