READY TO FLY
Seymour and Hogg can use early Lions sessions to stake their claim for key roles in Gatland’s Test side
STUART HOGG and Tommy Seymour may feel in a tiny minority in the British and Irish Lions tour squad, but the Scottish pair will have the opportunity to put their hands up for selection earlier than most. An upside to Glasgow’s struggles in the Guinness Pro12 this season is that neither will miss next month’s get-togethers and training sessions, while as many as 15-20 English, Welsh and Irish players will be absent due to involvement in the Premiership, Pro 12 and European final stages.
Lions head coach Warren Gatland (below) has spoken of ensuring all players can push for a Test jersey, and while there has to be scepticism of that on a short tour, which many leading performers will join as the rest are preparing for the opening game, Hogg and Seymour know they will have early opportunities to shine.
Hogg was the one Scotland player nailed on and there were hints from Gatland in recent weeks that he felt under no pressure to ensure even a semblance of equality across the four nations by adding to the full-back. So while there has been some shock at a squad stretched from the planned 37 to 41, with nine back rows yet no Scottish forward in a Lions squad for the first time in over 100 years, there is delight in that Seymour has ‘swelled’ the Scottish grouping to two.
The second successive Lions pick to be born in the USA, Seymour would also be delighted to follow the first, Alex Corbisiero, who scored a try in the decider in Australia four years ago — once the Tennessee boy gets to grips with the fact he is going to New Zealand, that is.
‘It takes time to get your head around,’ he admitted. ‘It’s a weird one because there’s lots going round in my mind and there’s nothing going round in my mind. It’s an amazing feeling and a really proud moment for me and my family. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing, and (when the squad was announced) you’re trying to take it in while your phone’s going mental.
‘I was at lunch with Richie Vernon when it was announced. Ali Price and Finn Russell were in the corner of the coffee shop and suddenly they started signalling to Richie and he kind of exploded at the table, and my phone started going off in parallel. Then Ryan Wilson walked in out of the blue and started going mental round the coffee shop, and I was just sitting there feeling a bit half-nauseous, sick, sweating for whatever reason, and then Hoggy came and picked me up and I was whisked to Murrayfield.
‘But the honest answer is it really wasn’t something I was expecting. There was a lot of quality competition out there and a lot of names being rightly talked about. I think very few people can ever expect to be in a Lions squad such is the nature of the competition, the pedigree of it and how much it means, so I’d be very foolish to sit here and say I thought I was among those three or four individuals who were expecting to be part of the tour.’
Hogg had a different mental challenge, trying to keep at bay expectation, having featured in virtually every pundit’s squad and even starting Test team over the past six months. He was aware of one or two suggesting he could be eclipsed on account of a couple of missed tackles, however, which helped keep his feet groundded. But had Hogg’s name not featured the Scottish upset would have been off the scale.
As it was, past players from Ian McLauchlan — the legendary prop who played in the Lions’ sole success in New Zealand in 1971 — to Jim Telfer have been critical of Gatland’s low Scots count. They know, however, that Scottish rugby is ultimately to blame for the lack of players.
Like every coach under pressure to win, and especially on the toughest of all Lions tours, Gatland was always going to stick with players he knows and who know him and what he wants. He has spoken of wanting to take the All Blacks on, but by opting for Dan Biggar over Finn Russell, Ken Owens rather than Fraser Brown and Ross Moriarty over Ryan Wilson, he has opted for his players — in style and nationality.
It is a national embarrassment that Scotland continue to contribute so few players, but that should at last change soon — perhaps even on this tour with the inevitable injuries — with Russell, Ali Price, Huw Jones, Alex Dunbar, Zander Fagerson, Jonny and Richie Gray, Hamish Watson, Magnus Bradbury and others young enough to be in contention for South Africa in 2021 if Scotland’s improvement under Vern Cotter continues with Gregor Townsend. It may help if he also becomes the Lions coach by then.
And there is inspiration to be taken from the journey Seymour has followed after being released by Ulster at 23 and brought by Sean Lineen to Scotstoun.
‘Yeah, I don’t think many people could have written this path for me,’ he said. ‘I never expected it in a million years but I don’t think anyone that young moving clubs could have thought along those lines. The way my career has progressed, I could never have enough gratitude and thanks to pay to Glasgow and the SRU for giving me an opportunity to carry on playing, and guys like Gregor and other coaches I’ve had for giving me opportunities and belief, because when having to leave a club at that age because you’re surplus to requirements, you can have doubts in your head, and at that young age doubts aren’t great.
‘But now it’s amazing. I remember four years ago when Hoggy was first picked. We were all in the changing room watching it and I had yet to get my first cap, and I was hopeful that Sean Maitland would be picked, as he rightly was,
so that there would be a wing spot for the (Scotland) tour, and there was and I ended up getting my first cap. It’s amazing to look back on that journey now.’
This greatest of rugby rewards owes everything to a tenacious determination not to let his rugby career dissipate when that move occurred. Seymour always had great talents, his speed, courage in chasing kicks and a sharp ability to turn glimpses of the line into tries.
Hogg praised Seymour’s ability to latch on to any high ball he sends skywards, while Seymour credited
Hogg’s attacking threat with contributing to his try tallies of 30 in 70 Pro12 games, eight this season in ten matches, and 16 in 36 for Scotland. The pair may have the chance to take that Glasgow combination into the Lions arena as early as the first game as both will be available for the training sessions in Wales and Ireland when others are busy with semi-finals and finals, and be in prime position to face the New Zealand Barbarians on June 3.
Those sessions and that game will quickly become a key target for the two Scots as the Lions’ dream becomes a Test-chasing reality.
‘I DON’T THINK MANY PEOPLE COULD HAVE WRITTEN THIS PATH FOR ME. I NEVER EXPECTED THIS IN A MILLION YEARS’