Barr set to lead Scotland in Shinty-Hurling clash
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Barr’s ascendancy to the captaincy comes as he gains his 14th cap at senior level. The defender also captained the Scots at under-21 level in 2004 one year before gaining his first senior cap.
For the 32-year-old North Sea engineer it promises to be a very special day as he returns to the scene of Glenurquhart’s MacTavish Cup triumph for the first time since that heady day in early June, when he and his team-mates lifted the trophy for the first time with a 3-1 win over Newtonmore in a dramatic final.
Barr said it is a huge honour just to play for his country.
“To pull on that dark blue jersey is something I will always savour and never take for granted,” he said. “To be selected as captain is definitely a career highlight and something I consider a tremendous privilege.”
Barr takes the arm band from Kinlochshiel’s Finlay MacRae who led the Scots to victory at the Bught in 2014 only to lose by a heavy margin in the return leg in Ireland, allowing the hurlers to retain the trophy.
In another break with recent conventions the organisers have dispensed with the system of aggregating the scores of the home and away series, with each match now a stand-alone and each with its own trophy. Following the clash at the Bught the teams will meet at Croke Park, hurling’s 80,000 seat stadium in Dublin in November.
Surveying the task faced by the Scots, Barr is not overly daunted despite the numbers advantage, in which it is estimated that hurlers in Ireland outnumber shinty players in Scotland by a ratio of nearly 50-to-one.
“Hurling is a massive sport in Ireland and the Irish selectors have huge resources to choose from. Despite that, we have always managed to compete with them and I am confident that Saturday will not be any different” he said. “Two years ago they had Patrick Horgan, an all-star, in their team and he destroyed us. He has dropped out this year but Gareth Johnson is back and he is a very powerful player.”
Barr is one of four Glenurquhart players in Ronald Ross’s squad with goalkeeper Stuart MacKintosh back after missing out in 2014. Along with
MacKintosh, Lovat’s Stuart MacDonald will vie for the number one shirt with MacDonald favoured to be in Ross’s starting line-up.
Neale Reid and Fraser Heath are the other Glen players capped with the Drumnadrochit-based club, sharing the largest player representation with Newtonmore.
“I think it is a good mix — we have the Kyles players, Roddy MacDonald and Grant Irvine — who have been over the course before but we have lads like Fraser and Neale coming in, along with Zander Ferguson from Lochaber, who are breaking through for the first time,” he said. “They have come through the under-21s however so they will know what to expect.”
The match has a 2pm start time and is preceded by the under-21 international at noon and by a ladies Shinty–Camogie match at 10.30am.
Scotland squad: Lee Bain (Kingussie); John Barr (capt) Fraser Heath, Neale Reid and Stuart Mackintosh (all Glenurquhart); Kevin Bartlett and Stuart Macdonald (both Lovat); Daniel Cameron (Oban Camanachd); Conor Cormack (Beauly); Zander Ferguson and Shaun Nicolson (both Lochaber); Grant Irvine, Calum Miller and Roddy Macdonald (all Kyles Athletic); Rory Kennedy, Paul Macarthur, Steven Macdonald and Glen Mackintosh (all Newtonmore); Liam Macdonald (Kilmallie) Finlay MacRae (Kinlochshiel)
