YOUNG GUNS
WASPS FULLBACK/CENTRE
When Scotland travelled to Argentina two years ago for the U20 World Championship they boasted the likes of Euan Ashman, Cam Henderson and Ross Thompson amongst their squad, as well as Wasps centre Cameron Anderson.
The tournament would turn out not to be one that would evoke happy memories for Scotland, as they failed to register a win to finish plumb last out of the 12 competing nations. Anderson believes the lessons learnt have pushed him on to excel and earn a first professional contract in July to now harbour hopes of emulating his former teammates who have enjoyed a breakthrough year.
“When I look back on my time at Scotland it was a team that could have done a lot better than it did,” Anderson, 21, told TRP. “We had a fair few talented players and it had that feeling of having the talent there to worry only about your own job, knowing the others could take care of themselves.
“It was good, but we did have a tough experience at the World Championship, and we live and learn from that.
“I think you can see now from the players that went to Argentina because they have moved on and are now getting first-team rugby at their clubs. We all learnt there how horrible it is to lose and that makes us appreciate the wins.
“There are quite a fair few guys who have pushed on and I still catch up with Cammy (Henderson) at Leicester every now and then. It is good to see him going well and getting his callup to the seniors this summer.”
A Henley College graduate who spent time on loan at Ampthill over the last two seasons, Anderson's transition full-time into the first team has been accompanied by the arrival of John Mitchell as a senior member of Lee Blackett's coaching staff.
“His approach to rugby is great because it is about the snap and our reaction to attack,” Anderson added. “In the northern hemisphere what you see are teams that are strong in defence, so what John's done so far is to try and focus on our counter-attack and how quickly we can switch from a turnover.
“The conversations that I have had has been on what our own point of differences are; what is it that we can bring to the club and to selection. What the coaches have done is make me appreciate what I have to offer to the first-team and so with me coming up from the academy, they have been big on what I do best and to try and show it week in, week out.
“They have been really big on recognising my strengths and let- ting me know how I can do that well. They have done that more to a point than tell- ing me the little things and weaknesses that I need to work on, nailing in how important it is to carry on working at things you are extremely good at.”
