Duncan Taylor’s missing years through his catalogue of injuries have only made him more determined than ever to make the most of what remains of his rugby career.
The 31-year-old is one of the most physically gifted players in recent Scottish rugby history but due to his various serious injuries to shoulder, ankle, knee and one long spell with concussion problems has just 23 caps over seven years.
Taylor returned for Scotland against France and is set for another cap against Ireland in the final game of the Autumn Nations Cup in Dublin, and he still has the drive to play more for his country and his club Saracens, mostly because of what he feels he’s missed.
“I think as you get a bit older you start to really embrace things a little bit more than maybe you do when you’re younger,” he said.
“You have more gratitude for the opportunities you get and the chances to be around your team-mates and to play for your club and your country.
“I’ve really developed that love for the game over the last few years without playing as much as I would have liked to. You realise how much you miss it when you are not involved.
“When you’re not playing it definitely pulls at your heartstrings and makes you realise how important this game is to you.
‘I’m just embracing every opportunity’
“I’m 31 years old now and time won’t last forever for me and my rugby career so I think so I’m just embracing every opportunity I get, whether it’s training or playing. I try to enjoy it as much as I can.”
As a result of so many disappointments, Taylor isn’t for looking back and not much for looking too far forward either.
“I’m more of a week-to-week guy,” he said. “I’ve got plenty more in me to give and I will give everything I’ve got, over however long I’ve got left playing rugby. But I’ll just attack that on a weekly basis rather than looking too far into the future.”
Taylor has no doubts that the way Scotland have to beat Ireland for the first time since 2010 is by fronting up physically, which is his preferred style.
‘We’ve struggled against Ireland’
“England were super-physical in their defence, I’d say they probably won that battle against Ireland,” he said. “Over the last few years we’ve struggled against Ireland but England seem to have come up trumps against them and I think that comes down to their physicality and their ability around the breakdown.
“That’s going to play a huge part in our defensive display at the weekend, winning that gainline, winning that physical battle.”
But Scotland have the ability to do that too, he thinks, and the togetherness of the current squad has been the key to the improvement in Scotland in 2020.
“This squad have been together from a while, and we’ve probably got more players to pick from now than we’ve had in a long time,” he continued.
“Edinburgh and Glasgow have also done really well over the past couple of years, so that brings an element of belief. Whenever we haven’t had too much depth in the past has been a challenge for us. But we’ve got a lot of depth and competition now.
“There’s no guarantee of anyone getting a jersey now, which is great for the squad and the performance side of things.”
‘We could have let it tear us apart’
Taylor is sticking with Saracens after their tumultuous year, even though there’s no guarantee that the club will play much this season with the English Championship in limbo due to the pandemic.
“It’s just been challenging from all sorts of angles,” he said. “We’ve gone through a rollercoaster journey over the last year or so.
“We could have let it tear us all apart, or we can use it to bring us all together. I think we’ve done the latter.
“If we can withstand some of the toughest times in the club’s history and stick together, I think it shows we have a pretty good culture. That’ll stand the test of time.”