BHATTI AIMING TO FLY HIGH AT GLASGOW AS HE PLOTS PILOT DREAM
GLASGOW Warriors prop Jamie Bhatti wants to keep his plans to be a pilot grounded for as long as possible because of his high-flying rugby career. Unlike former Edinburgh captain Stuart McInally, who has announced he will retire to chase his dream to take to the air in November, the Scotland international still has plenty left in the tank when it comes to playing. He is enjoying a great season and is part of Glasgow’s squad for the European Challenge Cup semi-final against Scarlets tomorrow night, and will be in contention for the Scotland squad for the World Cup in France later this year. ‘It’s maybe just been the last 18 months or so when I started to think about life post-rugby,’ said Bhatti, who used to work in an abattoir before he became a professional rugby player. ‘I’m 29 now, so hopefully I have got another four or five years left in me if, touch wood, I can stay injury-free but I’d been thinking about what I could do afterwards. I came from working in the abattoir and never had any grades but I’ve always been practical, so I looked into training to be a pilot. ‘I spoke to Stuart McInally and he said to go and try it. He said that after one lesson I would know if it was for me or not and I absolutely loved it and just kept doing it. ‘I do it out of Phoenix flight school in Cumbernauld and after registering with the Civil Aviation Authority, I booked lessons with an instructor and then I’d imagine eventually it’s like a driving test but in a plane. ‘I need to do 45 lessons minimum before I sit my test but the average is about 60 or 70 before you get your licence, so I’m very much at the start of it. ‘I can fly a plane, take off and land, but if you tell me to fly somewhere else I’d end up in Iceland or somewhere. Commercial or cargo, I don’t know what way it will go for me but I just want to do as much training as I can in my time in rugby, get my licences and see where I end up. ‘Rugby has helped me do this as, in the nicest way possible, I wouldn’t have been able to afford it. For me now it’s a hobby but hopefully at the end I’ll be able to do more with it but it’s an expensive hobby. ‘If I was working in the abattoir or doing a 9-5 job I wouldn’t have had an extra grand a month for flying lessons. It’s not cheap and I am going to try and do as much as I can in rugby first.’ Bhatti, who had three years at Glasgow from 2016 before spells with Edinburgh and Bath, returned to his first club two seasons ago and believes competition for places at Warriors has brought the best out of him. ‘I have guys like Allan Dell, Nathan McBeth and Oli Kebble hot on my heels but that is good as you never want to
become comfortable,’ he said. ‘I’ve never been someone who’s relaxed and expects things to just happen for me as I’ve worked so hard to get where I am. ‘I’m not going to roll over just because someone’s come back or is fit and say: “On you go mate, it’s your turn”. ‘Until I’m injured or dropped for playing rubbish, I want to keep that jersey for as long as I can.’ The Glasgow loosehead, who has 29 Scotland caps, is confident the best is yet to come from him in the coming weeks as the Warriors get ready for the business end of the season. ‘Look, I have never doubted myself, I have always said that,’ stated Bhatti. ‘When I am given game time I will play as well as I can and this season I have been consistent. I have been given a lot of minutes, which helps and I am happy where my game is. ‘Our set-piece compared to last season, or even the start of this season when it was hit or miss, is better and we’re starting to get a good bit of momentum there. ‘As a team, we don’t want to just bow out at a semi-final. We don’t want to be happy with making a semi. We want to show what we can do and go the full way in Europe and in the league as well. We can beat anybody on our day, definitely.’ Bhatti is hoping the opportunity to make a European Challenge Cup final and also advance in the United Rugby Championship play-offs will help his World Cup chances and, with a smile on his face, he said: ‘Edinburgh are finished for the season aren’t they? They’re on their holidays. We’ve still got rugby to play so hopefully if I’m involved in the summer squad I’ve got a bit of credit in the bank. ‘Edinburgh’s finished and I don’t think Rory Sutherland (of Ulster and one of his competitors for a World Cup spot) has played for a few weeks but I’ll just worry about myself, play well and good things will happen for me.’