Past is another country for Seymour

TOMMY SEYMOUR may have donned the green jersey as an underage player at Ulster, but the Scotland winger isn’t letting any sentiment get in the way as he prepares to face Ireland again on Saturday.

Born in Texas, Seymour (right) grew up in Belfast and played up to U-20 level with Ireland before moving to Glasgow where his mother is from. That put him on the Scottish radar and he’s gone on to become a star of Gregor Townsend’s side, the joint-fifth highest try scorer in the country’s history with Stuart Hogg and a 2017 Lion.

Ireland may reflect on one that got away, but the winger isn’t mistyeyed over his background.

“You guys in the media have probably wanted to get more out of it, but for me it has never really entered my head. It is just another game, albeit a massive game,” he told journalists this week. “There is always an element of wanting to prove myself. But the people I want to prove myself to are the Scottish guys – my team-mates here, my coaches, that’s who I want to prove myself to. “As a player, you always want to prove yourself, prove your worth and do things that can help make the team better.”

Like most wingers preparing to face Ireland, Seymour is working on his high ball work.

“We know Ireland have a fantastic kicking game. Their half-backs are very skilled at putting the ball in the right areas and putting balls up to compete with or to put pressure on you behind. So certainly we’ll go into this week knowing it’s a tactic they can exploit very well.”