Zander Fagerson thought he might not see a minute of the Guinness Six Nations this year, so he’s determined to enjoy it all.
The Kirriemuir prop’s importance to Scotland was illustrated with how intensely and quickly the management team got him back into action after a hamstring injury in early December.
He missed the England game, but that was only the second game he hadn’t started for Scotland in the last 17. He returned against Wales, and is certain to be the cornerstone again against France in Paris on Sunday.
‘Didn’t know I had hamstrings’
It's time to hit the weights with Zander Fagerson and Pierre Schoeman at Oriam! 💪 pic.twitter.com/uOVR26I5wM
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) February 15, 2022
“I was pretty worried at the start,” he said of the injury. “Didn’t know I had hamstrings because I usually don’t go fast enough to hurt them.
“I heard a pop and thought, ‘oh no, here we go’. At first I felt it was all right but I got my scan and went to see a specialist and he said it looked pretty serious.
“But I had a great support group around me at Glasgow, especially Michael Clarke and Stu Paterson, plus Ally Little here at Scotland. They really looked after me.
“On a weekly basis I had little small goals that I kept ticking off. I’m quite an impatient guy so I had those little goals to keep me happy and progressing every week.
“And here we are now. I was really lucky I had that group around me to keep me going.”
‘I’ve been really lucky and privileged’
Zander has passed 50 caps at just 27 – when many tightheads are just gaining playing maturity. He feels that in his whole time Scotland have been capable of how they’ve played in the wins over England and Wales.
“I’ve been really lucky and privileged to have played for Scotland as many times as I have,” he said. “But ever since I’ve been involved in the squad it’s been about trying to win.
“In years gone by we’d have the occasional good result. But since I’ve been involved it’s been about pushing every team that we play.
“Where we are now is a culmination of some really good years of togetherness. Most of the squad has been around for the last four years, a whole World Cup cycle. The combinations are all really comfortable with each other.”
The squad were maybe not as unified in the last World Cup as they might have been, he continued. But they are now.
“It’s a real tight-knit group, we’re all good mates and like hanging out with each other,” he said. “We’ve really addressed that from the last World Cup. We’re all bound to the same plan. It’s an exciting time to be part of this squad.”
‘It was brilliant to watch if you were a neutral’
Paris has fond memories from the win two years ago, when the Scots won in red time after France tried to break out for a bonus point to win the title.
“It was a great game of rugby, first of all,” he said. “We took our chances. If they had kicked it out (at the end) it was game over, but they wanted to keep playing to try to get the bonus point. That was their mindset.
“We stuck to our principles, got the ball back and won the game. It was brilliant to watch if you were a neutral and great if you’re a Scotland fan.
“France have threats all over the park, a pretty abrasive forward pack and dangerous backs. And their scrum-half (Antoine Dupont) is not half bad.
“I don’t think they’ve changed at all since the last game, just finessed their key attributes. Shaun Edwards going in as defence coach has really helped them as well.
“They’ll be gutted with the Irish loss and gunning for us at home, definitely. But they’re pretty set in their gameplan.
“It will be attacking rugby and taking opportunities. We have to make sure we don’t give them too many.”