QUINS SPELL KEY TO NAIRN’S GROWTH

TWO tries in six games so far represents a very decent return for Robbie Nairn in his breakthrough season at Glasgow Warriors. But the young winger has revealed that it was a couple of years spent at Harlequins between 2015-2017 that were the making of him as a rugby player. Nairn went straight from school at George Watson’s College down to the Quins academy set-up, where he rubbed shoulders with the likes of former England captain Chris Robshaw. Nairn admits that it was an intimidating environment as a youngster, but one which provided him with a good grounding in the game. He said: ‘I went down to Harlequins and had two years in the academy. I went from being a big fish in a small pond to being a small fish in a big pond. ‘I found it quite difficult and it was a learning curve for me as a person. I had to lose my ego and develop a bit more humility. I learned a lot about myself. ‘There were guys around me at Harlequins who were England internationals. Here at Glasgow, it’s Scotland internationals. ‘After two or three training sessions, you realise these guys are human. You realise you can actually go and speak to them and ask questions. That was a big thing for me.’ At 6ft 3in and the best part of 16st, Nairn is quite a specimen for a winger. But his path into rugby was rather circuitous. ‘I didn’t start playing rugby until I was about 14,’ he explained. ‘I was doing athletics — sprinting, mainly — and a little bit of football. ‘I went along one night to (rugby) training and realised I could thump guys. I enjoyed the physicality of it more than anything. ‘It was the humility of guys, not diving and things like that. The guys were tougher and were better blokes than in football.’