Tales from the Members’ Bar

Vol.2 No.12 Scott Gray

If you review the press just before Scott’s resumption of his international career this year, one theme dominates. “Gray wants to put one over on arrogant Springboks.” These were the re-working of the words of a young man not long out of school. He may have been at the best school in Harare with a great tradition in sport – the school first fifteen has been touring in the United Kingdom – but they invariably took a hammering against their South African counterparts. It is not losing the game – they were bigger schools than ours; they had better players but that is no reason not to socialise after the match. It was with some irony, he noted, that this year’s Springbok squad contained two Zimbabweans, Brian Mujati and The Beast (Tendai Mtawarira) who were at Peterhouse College at the same time as Scott.

As a young man Scott obeyed the stereotype and went travelling. Australia seemed like a good idea and he arrived in Canberra with his boots in his ruck-sack to play in the local grade competition for Easts. His ability drew the attention of the local scouts and was invited into the age-group set-up for the Canberra Kookaburras. A training contract with the ACT Brumbies followed but despite playing in the Ricoh Inter-state Championship, he was unable to force his way into the Super 12 squad.

Ever thought of having a crack at Rugby League? Brisbane Broncos next stop. After trying out and playing a bit in the second row – he found fitness a problem. He played a bit in the centres but was giving thought to his next move.

His next discovery will come as a surprise to regular readers of In The Loop. Agents: they are good for something. A video of Scott in action was on its way to clubs in England and Wales. One of the recipients was John Connolly – then of Swansea but soon to be the top man at The Recreation Ground. As Connolly arrived at Bath, an injury crisis took hold in the back row. Michael Foley rummaged around and found the video and Scott Gray was on his way.

Connolly and Bath were pleased enough with his performances to offer him a further contract. However, this was during Matt Williams’s tenure as Scotland coach. His preference was to have his players playing in Scotland. With appearances against the Barbarians and Australia to his name Scott was on the move again – to the Borders.

They say that bad news comes in threes. Injury before the 2005 Six Nations, Matt Williams disappearing as national coach and the lingering death of the Borders professional rugby team could have been devastating for Scott’s ambitions. It had been mooted that Scott would be transferred to the Glasgow Warriors but Sean Lineen took a different view. He was well covered in the back row and his succession plan was to bring young players through. If Scott signed for Glasgow, he would be signing for second team rugby.

The search for a full-time contract and a chance to regain international recognition were high on the agenda. Doncaster Knights, with their impressive record of promotion through the English pyramid, good facilities and obvious ambition – they had just gone fully professional – was Scott’s next port of call. While most of us remember our first meeting with Doncaster for Tom Smith’s cheeky drop-out and Chris Ashton’s mesmeric run, Scott scored two tries for the visitors that day. He had left his calling card.

With his signing announced in April, Scott had plenty on his plate. Changing jobs, moving house and a new addition to the family imminent are all guaranteed to raise the stress levels. So, getting down to training for the Saints was the least of his worries. As someone who has known what it is like to play in a ground where the players knew all the spectators by name, Northampton is a great place to play. The ground, the fans and the atmosphere they generate are terrific. It is a great place to be. The baby arrived in June; Frank Haddon had had a reminder of his talent by August and he was in Scotland’s squad for the autumn internationals. Life is back on course.

Another thing about life around the Saints is the blend of the squad. It is full of characters. There are the laughs to be had as the younger players come into training on Monday morning regaling the rest of them with tales of nights on the town. Who is it that makes you laugh the most? Lee Dickson – he is just like Milo from The Mask.

Scott is impressed by the quality of the young talent around the squad. Do you have any particular responsibility in that regard? No, here is no formal mentoring at the moment.

I had asked because, last year, it seemed, Courtney Lawes had been put into the care of Paul Tupai. (Noises Off: he’ll know how to deliver a right cross, then). Laughter!

Yeah. He hit me a couple of times. Once when I played for the Borders here our hooker took exception, waded in and received a yellow card.

Job done, I thought.

Playing for Donny was another occasion. As we got up, I asked him if that was all he had to his game? Has he ever actually tried playing with the ball?

I agreed that the crowd loved Toops for this level of commitment. He was the enforcer we had missed for a number of years of being pushed around.  It turns out that Nacho is our modern-day enforcer albeit of a different variety. Nacho does not need to throw punches to keep everything on an even keel.

Christmas is a busy time in the Gray household. His parents and sister had just arrived from Mozambique so the new young mistress of the house is about to be spoiled rotten.

There is a new entry this week for our compendium of cookies – Tim Tams. Scott also likes Marmite. For his bite-sized coaching tip, he recommends: Stay on your feet.

arw

26.12.2008

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