A lesson in scrummaging from a moustachioed veteran helped set Zander Fagerson on the right path when the young prop was nursing doubts about his future in the game. On Saturday in Santiago del Estero, Fagerson will win his 50th cap for Scotland but he admits that there were times in his late teens when he wondered if rugby was for him.
On leaving school there was no contract from the SRU academy, no offers to join the Scottish Institute of Sport. Fagerson contemplated a year out, a chance to travel and pursue his love of mountain biking.
In the end, he played club rugby for Glasgow Hawks, turning out for their second team under the watchful eye of Jimmy Sinclair.
The veteran coach can take credit for helping nurture Fagerson’s raw talent and the player remains forever grateful. But he also owes a debt of gratitude to Lindsay ‘Shagger’ Ross, something of a local legend in club rugby circles in Edinburgh.