Johnny Matthews: Scotland call would cap season to remember for Glasgow Warriors hooker and proud Everton fan

As a proud Evertonian, Johnny Matthews will be familiar with the club motto, Nil Satis, Nisi Optimum - ‘Nothing but the best is good enough’.

It’s a phrase that could be applied to the career of the Glasgow Warriors hooker, who has worked assiduously and now finds himself in the frame for Scotland’s summer tour of South America.

At 28, Matthews is no overnight sensation but his diligence and patience have been rewarded on a journey that began in the lower echelons of the English game with Sedgley Park and Otley and continued in Scotland with Boroughmuir before Glasgow came calling.

He had to wait until the 2020-21 season to win his first full-time contract with the Warriors and didn’t make his first start for the club until February last year. He is now a first-team regular and the club’s top try-scorer this season, quite an achievement when you consider the other Glasgow hookers are Scotland No 1 George Turner and club co-captain and 55-cap international Fraser Brown.

“On a personal note I think this season has gone pretty well for me,” said Matthews. “I’ve had a good run of games through one reason or another.

“I’ve worked pretty hard off the pitch, on the training ground and stuff, to get myself to a level where I can not only compete for the jersey but keep it.”

Born and raised in Liverpool, Matthews has a distinct Scouse brogue but his mother is from Blantyre and the hooker has ambitions to play for Scotland. He has already worn the thistle at under-18 and Club XV level and would love to be heading to Chile and Argentina this summer.

“I’d be delighted if I got a Scotland call up,” he said. “It would be fantastic for me and a great achievement given where I’ve come from in the club game. But I’ve always said my focus