80-MINUTE MACHINE
Fagerson is Scots’ marathon man
“I feel like I’m rugby fit... it doesn’t matter if it’s for club or country”
Scotland plan to squeeze every last drop out of Zander Fagerson in Rome next weekend to take advantage of the tighthead prop’s freakish fitness levels.
tighthead is the toughest position to play a full 80 minutes at international level but Fagerson is ready and willing to do just that for Scotland against Italy.
Fagerson is so important to the Scotland scrum that he is set to be asked by head coach Gregor townsend to keep going as long as he can in Rome.
locking the scrum together and taking most of the pressure at the hit takes its toll on the best of props. But Fagerson has played the full 80 minutes for Glasgow Warriors five times this season and once came off with just a minute to go.
In the Six nations, he played 72 minutes against Ireland before being replaced by WP nel. against England, he was on for an hour in atrocious conditions before Simon Berghan took his place.
‘Zander is a bit of a freak,’ said Glasgow forwards coach John dalziel. ‘You don’t get many tightheads who can play so long.
He gives you so much outside the scrum and even for Scotland he’s on the field for 70 minutes.
‘He’s a young, fit lad and he gets through so much work on both sides of the ball. Sometimes it’s change for change’s sake at 50 minutes or so but Zander can go a lot longer than that. He’s worth keeping on.’
townsend agrees with those sentiments and Fagerson himself is willing to play to the finish in Rome if he is asked to.
‘I feel like I’m rugby fit and I have those minutes with Glasgow to back that up and, if called upon, I feel like I can do it (80 minutes) if I have to — but that’s up to the coach,’ said Fagerson.
‘I’d like to just play first, that’s the key thing. WP nel played 80 minutes too for Scotland in the past and I remember being down in Wales in 2016 and he was awesome for the whole 80 minutes.
‘In the past, when I am reduced to walking, that is usually when I am about to get hooked and at Glasgow they thought that keeping me on has been effective. I’m not so sure a few times but the coaches make the decisions.
‘In saying that, it doesn’t matter whether its international or club, I’ll give it my all.’
the Glasgow prop — who has started 14 out of his 26 matches for Scotland — has become far and away first-choice tighthead under townsend during the Six nations. His one-time rival for the jersey, nel, has been released to play for Edinburgh against Scarlets in Wales today.
that leaves Berghan, who is nowhere near as good a scrummager as Fagerson, to be his understudy in Rome.
‘WP is a great player, as is Simon Berghan, so I can’t rest on my laurels,’ said Fagerson.
‘I’ve got to come into camp every week fighting for that position. What’s really good is that, depending on who plays, everyone is supporting each other and helping to make each other better.
‘So, it’s not my jersey at all. I’m still trying to fight every week to get my opportunity to play, whether that’s on the bench or starting.’
Fagerson puts down the improvement in his international form to working under two South african scrum and front-row specialists, both at Glasgow Warriors and with Scotland. Petrus de Plessis was a prop at Saracens before retiring and joining Glasgow Warriors as part of dave Rennie’s backroom staff. Pieter de Villiers (below) may have played for France through residency but was South african born and bred and worked with the Springboks under Heyneke Meyer before joining Scotland ahead of the Six nations. ‘Since Petrus came in, I’ve just picked his brains at Glasgow about stuff,’ said Fagerson. ‘He’s been one of the best in the English Premiership year in and year out, so having him at Glasgow just to talk to and drive our set-piece has been awesome. ‘also, Pieter has been a breath of fresh air as well coming in with Scotland. He is similar to Petrus in his outlook. He asks us to do lots of endurance stuff and core stuff — and that is not just with the front row but the pack as a whole. Having specialist coaches in my area is massive. We have specialist kicking coaches, specialist skills coaches, so to have a scrum coach coming in, to have that key focus throughout training is great.
‘He (Pieter) follows me around the gym with Scotland to make sure my posture is good! So, yeah, it’s full on but its good.’
Italy may have lost their last 24 Six nations games but Fagerson has made clear Scotland will treat them with the utmost respect.
the Azzurri lost their opener to Wales 42-0 in cardiff before going down 35-22 to France in Paris in what was a much-improved performance.
‘Italy showed in the first two rounds that they have a really good scrum and they posed Wales a lot of problems as well as France,’ he said. ‘We are going into this game the same as every game, with a plan.
‘It’s been going well so far, so we won’t change too much and we’ll stick to our process.
‘From my point of view, I would love to be selected and play out there. I have always loved carrying, it’s quite fun. Getting hands on the ball is one of my key things. I think I can offer myself up more as a ball carrier.’