The Dragons, minus 13 British Lions stars, complete their two-Test North American tour in Chicago this Saturday. And the Ospreys lock reckons Robin McBryde’s young guns must be given greater freedom of expression on the pitch to entertain – and achieve Test success.
Gough, 32, said: “A win and to come out of the game in one piece would be great to tick off another season. I’ve played at Test level for many seasons now so if we can get through with a win and put in a top performance as well then that would be great.
“Let’s hope we can see some of the young guys in the side really express themselves and play some good rugby.”
Gough, on stand-by for the Lions, joined an elite band of Wales’ finest and achieved a personal milestone in the victory over Canada last weekend – 11 years after his debut against South Africa.
Less than a dozen players in the history of Welsh rugby have worn the Three Feathers on their chest 60 times. But Gough earned his stripes in the second-half in Toronto and has now been drafted in for the clash at Toyota Park following a neck injury to Cardiff Blues second-row Bradley Davies.
And the 60-cap veteran insists he won’t be distracted by the Lions speculation but admits he is relishing the extra responsibility as one of the senior players on the tour to guide the likes of Tom James, Dan Evans and Jon Davies.
Gough said: “I’m on stand-by for the Lions and if I get a call, then it would be like being handed a winning lottery ticket. Right now it’s all about Wales and that’s important to me.
“I’ve got a job to do with helping the young players. They are full of excitement and willing to get the jersey on.
“The game against Canada was tough because we hadn’t had much time to prepare and there were a lot of errors, which you can expect to an extent.
“We weren’t happy with the amount of errors we made and little patches of our game weren’t quite right, but we still won quite well. We had four or five opportunities we didn’t take but with a little bit more experience, we would have taken.
“But we’re off and running now after winning the first game. Hopefully, this weekend it will be about putting the performance which will look good for everyone involved.”
