MY LIFE IN RUGBY
THE FORMER SCOTLAND A, GLASGOW, ROTHERHAM AND DONCASTER PROP
THE two-and-a-bit years I spent at Rotherham was probably my favourite time as a rugby player – even if I got a shock when I first got there. I'd played for Glasgow against Borders on the Monday night and had a meeting with Andre Bester, the Titans' coach down in Yorkshire the following day.
As I knew it could be my last game, I went out for a few beers – back in those days I trained hard, played hard and partied even harder – which made for an uncomfortable train journey the next day. But that was nothing in terms of the discomfort I faced when I got to Clifton Lane. On shaking my hand, Andre asked if I could handle myself, he then said, ‘put your boots on then, you're training'. Some 100-odd live scrums and 100 mauls later, I was completely hanging.
Andre rubbed up a lot of people the wrong way but I liked him. I liked his hard-graft style, it was no-nonsense. Being a Teuchter (country boy) up north, I think I fitted in with his idea of getting a load of outsiders, discards and misfits together and moulding a squad together that could challenge the best in the Championship.
Talking of scruffy, Clifton Lane was certainly no palace but the rest of the boys and the supporters were top class. We looked after each other, because no one else did really, and the supporters had our backs.
It's thanks to them I rediscovered my love of rugby after a second season at Glasgow where I hardly played at all, mainly because of injuries. It was disappointing that things hadn't worked out at Glasgow, especially as I'd gone there as Scotland U21 Player of the Year and been to two Junior World Cups, one in Scotland and one in Argentina, playing alongside the likes of Ali Hogg and Alasdair Strokosch.
Andre had a great team and we just missed out on promotion. But when I went back there after my loan deal had become permanent, the landscape had changed. Andre had left and been replaced by New Zealander Phil Werahiko who was a great coach but had no experience of what was a tough division.
Also, the profile of the squad had changed with a lot of oldstagers moving on and youngsters coming in. Unfortunately Phil didn't get the results that the board demanded and he was sacked.
“I got a couple of concussions and, stupidly, I played on. The effects were pretty dire”
Craig West came on board, and he was very different in that he knew the place like the back of his hand. One night he sacked off training and took all the boys down the pub for a few pints. Trouble was, he went to the bar and found out, in true Yorkshire style, he'd left his wallet behind. One of the boys had to get their credit card out instead!
One way or another, you never got rich at Rotherham but at least I had two wages coming in as I did a lot of work with the Titans Foundation, run by Brian Chapple. The extra money was great but I also loved the time away from rugby and working in the schools and learning new skills.
Under Westy, a lot of the old boys came back in and we started to turn things around.
‘Bunny' (Simon Bunting) brought a lot of ‘old-school' ways with him and rubbed quite a few people up the wrong way. I actually got on well with him even though we had a massive fist-fight in his first training session back at the club. We were mauling and he was pulling anything he could grab hold off and the boys were all welching about it. He grabbed me by the balls so I grabbed him by his trademark tangled mass of hair and we traded blows until we were both knackered. He could throw a punch, I can tell you that.
Massimo Cuttitta was scrum coach for Scotland and Doncaster, and that was the main draw for me going to our local rivals. Everyone thought it was for more money but, to be fair, I think I was on less there than I was at Roth. Rotherham wanted me to stay but I'd already signed the papers so I went and, unfortunately, I didn't experience the same enjoyment.
I thought this would be an opportunity for me to get on the Scotland radar again as it had been quite a few years since I'd played for Scotland A in the Nations Cup and Churchill Cup, but I just never settled at Doncaster. They had some great lads and great supporters and amazing facilities compared to many of the Championship clubs. But I went off the boil a little bit while I was there. I kept getting injured, I broke an ankle and dislocated my thumb, and things like that held me back.
I had a choice of staying in England or going abroad, but during the time I was back up in Scotland catching up with family and friends in Scotland, I bumped into the coach of my old club, Aberdeen Grammar, and he told me they were looking for a development officer and player. It kind of all worked out as my partner was giving birth that summer and I'd be close to my family after nine years away.
I played for Gram- mar and got a couple of concussions and, stupidly, I played on. The effects were pretty dire it has to be said. Once I passed out in my kitchen. I remember seeing a specialist, he was a big jolly Greek doctor and I remember his smile. I was like, ‘I must be okay'. He then went on and said that if I got another knock to the head I might be fine, I could blackout, be paralysed or die! There was no way of really knowing so I would have to stop. Obviously in my front row stubbornness I only listened to the ‘you might be fine' but then, reflecting on it, I knew my time was up. Give the SRU credit, they were on the phone and had my best interests at heart, saying it was over, as it wasn't safe for me to carry on.
Even now, I struggle with my head if I have been driving or staring at a computer screen for too long. That sort of thing happened all the time back in the ‘wild west' days of professionalism.
I remember Euan Murray, on my PRO12 debut against Dragons, being knocked out cold. When he came around, he got up and was just grabbing anyone he could, Chewbaccastyle. For a while, he couldn't lift any more than 60kilos which, for him, was nothing, not even a warm-up. I am a big advocate now for player welfare because I know, first-hand, how it can rob you of your quality of life.
Coaching had always been a passion of mine so that was a natural transition for me once it became clear I couldn't play on. After money became tight in rugby, I decided it was best not to rely on the SRU or clubs for a job so I decided to start up my own coaching business, Big Rig Rugby. Clubs don't have to worry about hiring costs. They come to us with a budget and we can go in and deliver to the schools and set up programmes to promote the clubs.
In 2019, I even got to coach the Rwandan national team as they prepared for a World Cup qualifier against the Ivory Coast. They lost but the big win was seeing the smiles on the faces of players who'd been scarred by the genocide there. Currently, I am coaching my local club, Garioch Ladies.
Obviously, there are things you would have done differently in hindsight but I won a few personal awards – the Rotherham Player of the Year was special – and I like to think I was always true to myself. A few folk say I didn't rub enough backs or scratch enough arses and if I'd done so, I might have played longer at the top level.
But I refused to change my ways to make them feel better. Thankfully things are changing now, it's not who you know, it's what you do that counts.
