Fergusson is back on top of the world after battle with cancer
A FEW years ago, Robbie Fergusson thought he would never play rugby again. Today, though, he is jetting off to San Francisco with the Scotland squad for the Rugby World Cup Sevens event.
Fergusson, 24, is flying high in his career, but four years ago he was hit with a bolt from the blue.
Around Christmas time in 2013, the former Scotland Under-20 cap, who was playing for Ayr at the time, began to feel sluggish while training and playing in matches. He was also struggling with a lingering cough.
Antibiotics did not seem to improve his situation and things came to a head in March 2014.
Before a match for Ayr against Gala he was sick in the warm-up and the following week he went to hospital for X-rays and tests. He was told he had a type of cancer called Hodgkin’s lymphoma and, as Fergusson said: ‘All sorts of things started running through my head.’
However, he showed great character to battle back from the shock news and was playing again by October of that year.
Fast-forward nearly four years and Fergusson is now playing for London Scottish after a spell with Glasgow Warriors.
And this year, his first as a sevens core player, he has starred for Scotland as a half-back on the World Series circuit and at the Commonwealth Games in Australia. ‘I was only 20 at the time I got the diagnosis and my parents were away on that day, so I was really in a state of shock,’ said Fergusson (right).
‘I went home and told my sister. She then phoned my mum and dad and explained it to them.
‘When all that happened back then, rugby was the last thing on my mind. I certainly never thought I’d go to a sevens World Cup.
‘In a way, what I went through has made me more relaxed but also more focused. The sevens guys are like a band of brothers. It has to be that way because we are with each other so much. ‘Coming from 15s into sevens, the list of differences is endless. There’s never a down moment in sevens. Sometimes you come off the bench, play three minutes and, after it, you can hardly walk. It is intense but I love it and can’t wait for this World Cup.’ Scotland coach John Dalziel is one of Fergusson’s biggest fans. ‘I have the utmost respect for Robbie as a person. He has been through a lot in his life,’ said Dalziel.
‘He is resilient, an absolute professional and probably as diligent as any pro I have played with or worked with.
‘It is fantastic to see him now. He has had to learn to be a hooker and a scrum-half in sevens and he has really come on.’
The World Cup is being played as a knockout event at AT & T Park — home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team.
The Scots will face Kenya or Tonga in the last 16 in the early hours of Saturday UK time.
SCOTLAND SQUAD: Scott Riddell (c), Nyle Godsmark, Jo Nayacavou, Jack Cuthbert, Alec Coombes, Robbie Fergusson, Gavin Lowe, Craig Jackson, Harvey Elms, Max McFarland, Jamie Farndale, Sam Pecqueur. The Rugby World Cup Sevens takes place between July 20 and 22 in San Francisco.