The Autumn Tests and Six Nations Championship have to be seen more as a window of opportunity than a door being closed on your international prospects. That is the feeling among those left at Glasgow Warriors this week, particularly for Matt Fagerson.
While his brother Zander is on Scotland duty for the best part of a month, Matt is among those flying the flag back at Scotstoun where facing Leinster on Friday is the more immediate concern.
But despite having been part of the St Andrews training camp earlier in the year under Scotland coach Gregor Townsend, the younger Fagerson isn’t considering missing the Autumn series as some kind of snub.
“No, not at all,” says the 19-year-old flanker. “I’d have been a bit embarrassed if I’d been picked –
I haven’t really played rugby a lot. So I wasn’t expecting it at all.”
Which makes Matt the most famous of the Fagerson brothers with the Warriors this week as they set their sights on Leinster after a storming display against the
Southern Kings last week.
“I’m the only brother here this week!” he joked. “It’s just a good opportunity, especially the young guys, having a shot at driving up their standards and having some good training.
“Hopefully I’ll get a chance this week. It’s just a shame [Adam] Ashe is out injured, at the moment. He’d a storming start to the season and he’s got big boots to fill at eight.”
About Leinster, who won on their last visit to Glasgow two weeks ago, he added: “They are a very physical side. They just like to throw their weight around. But as we’ve seen in all the reviews, there are a lot of opportunities there, by trying to expose them in places, and hopefully we get the chance to do that at the weekend.
“The second half last week against the Kings, we really started to gel as a team, especially the forwards. We scored two mauled tries, and then Zander went around the front for another.
“It was something we had worked at during the week; out pick and go, and scoops and stuff. I think we just wanted to make a statement in the Kings game and have a go at them up front and we really came through. The structure we wanted to play in the opposition 22 really came together.”
With such an abundance of talent at Warriors for the back-row position, Fagerson has found himself shunted around, both in terms of team and position. For the U20s he has operated at blind-side, but when deputising for Glasgow Hawks, he switches to the open-side, while last week for Warriors he was at No.8. Not that he appears worried by those changes.
“I really have no preference. I have to change my game a little bit. You don’t do any line-outs if you are playing at seven. You’ve got to have your head screwed on playing at six, but I have no real preference.
“I just play where I’m put really.”
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