Fagerson crucial for both club and country

Zander Fagerson is becoming increasingly important for Scotland, and the evidence of that is that they’ve got him not one but two specialist scrum coaches this season,

writes Steve Scott.

The prop only turned 24 last month, but he’s now surely the No 1 choice at tighthead for Scotland, a key player for the long-term as scrummager, carrier and defender and increasingly a figure coaches are coming to lean heavily on.

Hence he’s played so much rugby for Glasgow Warriors this season – partly because of injuries to others but also because his engine means he can go for the full 80 if required, a real rarity in modern rugby for a front row forward.

The Kirriemuir man said: “I feel like I’m rugby fit, I have those minutes to back that up so if called upon, I feel like I can do it if I have to, but that’s up to the coach,” he said.

“I’d like to just play first, that’s the key thing. It’s a vote of confidence, I guess, to get the starts but I don’t think it’s my jersey now, not at all.”

Zander’s work at the set-piece is being honed both at Glasgow and with Scotland through the appointment of Petrus du Plessis as scrum coach at Scotstoun and Pieter de Villiers joining Scotland for this Six Nations.

“Both Petrus and Pieter have been massive for me. Since Petrus came in I’ve just constantly picked his brains about stuff... having him at Glasgow just to tap his brains and drive our set piece has been awesome.

“But Pieter has been a breath of fresh air as well coming in.”

Fagerson feels that the new energy in the Scotland squad is going to pay dividends very shortly.

“It’s been a really positive camp, I’ve been loving it and everyone’s got a smile on their face and training hard. We have new coaches and they’ve all brought something different. Players have bought in and as a collective, there’s a really good buzz around the squad,” he said

Zander Fagerson is enjoying life with Glasgow and Scotland.