Crosbie is so proud to lead Scots after his epic rise

THERE was a time when Luke Crosbie must have wondered if he would ever get the opportunity to even play for Scotland, let alone captain the national team. Growing up in West Lothian, he came from a more modest background than many of the boys he was competing against at Under-16 level. A pupil at West Calder High School, he was often overlooked as coaches opted to select boys who were pupils at the traditional rugby private schools in Edinburgh. His determination and talent, though, eventually emerged. He came through the ranks at Livingston, before moving on to Currie and then a professional deal with Edinburgh. Yet, even once he got there, nothing was guaranteed. Trying to win a spot in the back row ahead of players like Hamish Watson, Jamie Ritchie, Bill Mata, John Barclay and Magnus Bradbury was far easier said than done. The biggest compliment you could pay Crosbie (below) is that at no point did he ever look out of place among that sort of company. He has proven himself as one of Edinburgh’s most consistent and effective operators over the past few seasons, despite being faced with a path that was anything but straightforward. You can understand, then, why he will feel such an immense sense of pride when he leads Scotland out against Chile in Santiago tonight. Shoulders arched back, chest puffed out, and quite possibly with a tear in the eye, it will be the greatest moment of Crosbie’s career thus far. But that feeling of pride will apply tenfold to his family, who will be watching at home. Particularly in the case of his gran Maureen, who he counts as his biggest fan. After making his Scotland debut against Tonga last year, Crosbie revealed that his ‘wee granny’ keeps a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings of all his matches. Seeing him captain Scotland for the first time will no doubt be an emotional new entry in the scrapbook as he leads the ‘A’ team into battle tonight. ‘I’ve just had a lot of messages saying: “I can’t believe it” from people like my mum and dad,’ said the 25-year-old. ‘And my wee granny has been messaging, too. They just love to see that I’m in a Scotland jersey first of all, but to see me fulfilling the captaincy role is great. ‘I’m sure they’ll all be together to watch the game. I’m just really excited to have the honour of doing that role for the team. ‘I don’t think they would have had time to get over here. The best thing for them is just to get together to watch it. ‘The main thing for me is just having that respect from my team-mates. That’s something I’ll always aim for. ‘I behave in training in a way that I’m leading and showing a good example to the players around me to gain their respect so that when you speak, the other players listen to you. ‘It’s controlling the team and making sure everyone is focused and if there are errors it’s about picking people up and making sure that they stay positive.’ Gregor Townsend has selected an ‘A’ team of mostly homegrown players for the fixture against Chile tonight, with a three-Test series against Argentina set to follow. Despite the youthful and experimental line-up, it will still be a game where the Scots will start as strong favourites. Crosbie won’t underestimate Chile, insisting that Scotland need to deliver a strong performance to get the tour off to a winning start. ‘Chile are a physical outfit and we’re prepared for them,’ said Crosbie, who will captain Scotland from openside flanker. ‘We’ve been training hard for a

tough game.’