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Matt Fagerson: 'You would stay away from him when he had the ball'
It’s fair to say the back garden of the Fagerson family home would have been a pretty competitive place. With five siblings – four boys and a girl – battling it out, you would have had some full on sporting contests. Two of the five, Matt and Zander, have gone on to become star forwards for Glasgow Warriors and Scotland, with another, Nathanael, having been on the Bath books at one point.
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As back rower Matt recalled, rugby was a big focus from an early age. “I have probably had a ball in my hands since I was four or five,” he said. “I remember chucking it round the garden. I have got three brothers (Zander, Agris and Nathanael) and a sister (Rachel).
“So, as you can imagine, it got quite competitive outside in the garden, no matter what sport we were playing. Zander is the oldest. We were all probably a little bit quicker than him, but if he got his hands on you, you were in a spot of bother, so you would try and stay away from him when he had the ball.
“Rugby was always at the forefront of our minds. Zander was always the biggest at school and the one to watch growing up, so then it was a case of me trying to follow in his footsteps. So that made rugby the be all and end all as a child.
“He was absolutely a motivation and an inspiration. My end goal was always to become a professional rugby player and watching him made you realise maybe it was a possibility. I used to come to his games when I wasn’t playing and watching him go from strength to strength with Glasgow was definitely a massive motivator – watching him living the dream we both wanted as children, a dream that turned into reality.”
Born in Perth, Matt went to school in Dundee and Strathallen, like his older brother, and then progressed to join him in the Glasgow set-up. They have gone on to add to the long tradition of siblings playing together for Scotland, following in the footsteps of the likes of the Hastings, Gray, Calder, Milne and Brown brothers.
“We never take it for granted,” said the 26-year-old Matt. “It’s incredibly special every time we get to play together. Zander running out for his 150th game against Ulster last month was a very special occasion and then he got to run out with his two kids against Benetton the week after.
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“It’s fond moments like that you really remember about rugby. You have got a packed out home stadium and the two kids were out on the pitch. On my 100th game, I ran out with them as well. Getting to see everyone in the family after games is absolutely massive. It’s what we do it for.”
The 47-cap Fagerson has been in fine early season form for URC champions Glasgow, scoring tries in the bonus point victories over Benetton Rugby and Cardiff Rugby, while showing his versatility by packing down at both No8 and openside.
Reflecting on the challenge of defending the title, he said: “Teams are probably coming harder at us this year, maybe a little bit more than usual. We have got a bit of credit and respect now. The league is getting more competitive every year and you have seen that with three different champions over the course of the BKT URC.
“That can only be good for rugby. All the games count. It’s absolutely a competitive league. You saw that with a huge win for Zebre against a pretty good Munster team the other week.”
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