Adam Ashe played football to a decent level, is a single-figure handicap in golf, and did a bit of athletics but when he started to stretch there was only one sport for him.
The powerful 21-year-old played a huge part in Scotland’s 41-31 win over Argentina in only his second test match, leading both teams in ball-carrying and tackles, and unsurprisingly gets the vote of confidence for the ultimate challenge of the All Blacks even if Johnnie Beattie is ready to return.
Oddly it was Beattie himself who talked up Ashe as deserving of more chances when the 20-year-old was at Glasgow last year, and the youngster’s seized them this year.
Despite his early start for Scotland, he’s only been playing really seriously for seven years.
“Up until 14 or 15 I tried a lot of sports but it took me a while to find one I really liked,” said the Alva lad, who started in minis with Hillfoots RFC.
“I played golf off a handicap of seven at 15, did a lot of athletics and in football I played under-14 in pro youth with Falkirk for a year or two, but eventually decided it wasn’t really for me.
“I started growing and suddenly was a lot bigger than the rest of the lads. I liked to get stuck in as well so maybe football wasn’t really the right sport for me. I liked the physical side of sports and that’s what drew me to rugby.”
Despite offers of scholarships at top private schools to play rugby, he stayed at Alva Academy and it hasn’t slowed his progress any.
“It has worked out well, I wouldn’t change anything and I’m really happy with the decisions I’ve made in my career so far.”