Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

The Scottish World Cup bolter who's shocked by his own rapid rise

GettyImages-1081990844

Grant Stewart is as shocked as anyone to find himself in the running for Scotland’s World Cup squad.

ADVERTISEMENT

But now that opportunity has been handed to him, the Glasgow Warriors hooker is determined to make the most of it and snatch a seat on the flight to Japan.

As recently as 2015, the 24-year-old was playing second string club rugby with Glasgow Hawks.

An injury crisis at Scotstoun provided the former youth international the chance to sign professionally with Warriors at the end of last year.

His displays for Dave Rennie’s side – including a try-scoring substitute display in the Guinness PRO14 final – have propelled him into Gregor Townsend’s thinking for this year’s tournament in the Far East.

Video Spacer

Given he has made just 24 appearances in the pro ranks – and only eight starts – he understands he will likely be the odd one out when the Scotland coach is forced to cut the number of hookers currently among his 44-man training squad from four to three.

The trio in front of him includes vice-captain Stuart McInally plus Scotstoun colleagues Fraser Brown and George Turner.

Yet the latter pair’s recent run of injuries mean Stewart’s impossible dream has now entered the realm of the conceivable.

ADVERTISEMENT
Grant Stewart
Scotland captain Stuart McInally

“If you’d told me two years ago that I’d be in the World Cup mix then I’d have said ‘no chance’, as there’s a lot of talented boys playing for Scotland,” he said.

“When I was playing for Hawks there was a wee bit of an injury crisis at Glasgow and I got called in to be 24th man.

“I got noticed then and got the academy deal, then I got a chance at Glasgow and just tried to push on.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I just want to push on as far as I can. I want to play and if I train well I don’t see why not. If I do my role well and work hard to improve then who knows what could happen.”

Stewart will have to dislodge a squad regular if he is to force his way into Townsend’s 31-man traveling party.

But the competition for places has not yet disrupted the harmony among the contenders for the number two jersey at their St Andrews training camp as they prepare for the opening warm-up clash with France in Nice on August 17.

Stewart said: “Stuart McInally has been really good to me, he’s kept me calm on the throwing, while Fraz and George have been good as well.

“I just need to make sure I know my role as much as I can.

“This has been a huge jump in standards, it’s just so much faster. If you don’t do something right then there’s always a consequence, and that’s the biggest difference about the level I’d played at previously.

“It’s about being fit enough, about communicating in defence and attack, and about asking questions to make sure everything’s all good.

“Training’s starting to get a wee bit more intense. As selection gets closer the boys are starting to go a bit harder.

“This will help a lot because I’ll get a bit more experience here, and if I don’t make the World Cup squad I’ll take that back to Glasgow and try and put it out there.”

– PA

Jim explores the stunning cities of Cape Town and Porth Elizabeth in South Africa for the latest episode of Rugby Explorer.

Video Spacer
ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

A
AM 38 minutes ago
'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

72 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Clear favourite emerges for Munster job amid Graham Rowntree exit Clear favourite emerges for Munster job amid Graham Rowntree exit
Search