JOHN Hardie is a level-headed man, which is just as well for him, because his world has been turned upside down over the past few months. Literally so, as he has moved from the other side of the planet to play for Scotland, but also metaphorically, as he has gone from being an uncapped player to a quarter-finalist in the Rugby World Cup.
When he left New Zealand earlier this year, the 27-year-old may well have had faith in his ability to win a place in Scotland’s squad for the World Cup, but it was a gamble all the same. There were no guarantees. The upheaval could have been in vain.
Instead, four caps into his international career, he is as close to being a fixture in the Scotland squad as it is possible to get. The biggest threat to his grip on the No 7 jersey probably comes not from any rival, but from his right ear, which was slashed open in the first game against Japan and still has not healed. He can play on for the time being, and the clot looks clean enough, but he will have to give it some time to heal sooner or later.
That time could begin tonight, should Scotland lose to Australia at Twickenham, but whenever it begins, there will be little opportunity for him to rest. He needs to find a club to play for, having done no more so far than sign a couple of short-term deals with Scottish Rugby.
There should be no shortage of offers for Hardie, given the quality of his performances thus far, above all in defence. If an auction begins, Scotland’s two teams may be priced out of the market, but he has settled here now and would happily stay with either Glasgow or, more likely, Edinburgh, where he currently lives.
“There is a possibility, yes,” he said when asked if staying in Scotland was an option - previously, he had presumed that the two PRO12 teams already had a full complement of players and he would be surplus to requirements. “The Scottish fan base has been awesome right throughout, and you can just tell how much passion there is in Glasgow and Edinburgh. We’ll just see what happens in the next couple of weeks.
“It feels comfortable. I just feel more part of the set-up now. I’m really enjoying it.
“A couple of months ago I just wanted to get out onto the field and play rugby instead of sitting there training and not being able to participate too much. I’ve loved these last two months. The boys have been really good.
“What else can I ask for? Quarter-final of a World Cup, playing at Twickenham. Who would have thought that would happen six months ago? It’s pretty surreal.”
Whether Scotland go out of the tournament today or go all the way to the final, Hardie’s priority after the competition ends will be to have a break. Paid employment can wait.
“It’s a bit of a funny road, to be honest,” he continued. “I haven’t actually thought past what’s going to happen after the World Cup. My girlfriend is over here and maybe if we get a couple of weeks off we might head away for a holiday.
“Hopefully something [club-wise] pops up in the next couple of weeks. We’re working through that, and we’ll wait and see what happens after the World Cup. I didn’t want to get caught up in it too much; you can’t have too many things running through your mind when you’ve got a World Cup.”
Hardie is well aware of how tough today’s match will be, but, as the sort of player who revels in adversity, will not feel at all intimidated by the Australians, some of whom are old adversaries of his from his Super Rugby days. He hopes to upset the odds with a win not only for his own sake and that of his team-mates, but also for the Scotland support, whose commitment has come to mean a lot to him.
“It would be awesome for this team,” he said when asked how much it would mean to win. “And for the Scotland fans as well. That atmosphere in Newcastle last week was the best I’ve ever played in. To do it not only for the team, but for the Scottish fans, would be outstanding.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here