Being told he would be Scotland captain was “the greatest day of my life” according to Henry Pyrgos but he knows work has to be done if he is even to stay around for the Rugby World Cup.
The 26-year-old Glasgow scrum-half finished the season strongly as a key man in the Warriors’ PRO12 title triumph and is preferred as skipper and scrum-half for the opening RWC warm-up match of four, against Ireland in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday.
With Sam Hidalgo-Clyne likely to understudy him on the bench on Saturday and Grant Gilchrist Vern Cotter’s original choice as team captain last year also involved, Pyrgos would appear to be in a strong position to make the final tournament squad even if the squad for Dublin does have an experimental look about it.
Only three players who were first choice throughout the Six Nations Tommy Seymour, Blair Cowan and Rob Harley are in the 25 named. Gilchrist and Ruaridh Jackson are making their returns after long spells of injury but large parts of the squad appear to those on the fringes of making the squad or staying home.
For Pyrgos, however, just the honour of leading his country makes this match special.
“Vern pulled me aside on Monday before the team was given to us and said he would like me to captain,” he said. “What an amazing feeling, the greatest day of my life.
“It is a huge game. I know it is named as a warm-up game but we are playing a top team in Ireland, and it is a huge opportunity for the guys involved. This is a proper test match and we want to put down a marker to start our World Cup campaign.
“Everybody knows they will get opportunities to prove themselves and I have the first opportunity this weekend. We need to go out there and play well if we want to be involved in the final 31.”
Dorset-born, Henry’s Scottish mother Fiona made sure he knew where his deepest roots lay and he was always planning to choose Scotland if the opportunity came.
“My mum is very passionate about Scotland and I was close to both my grandparents from Scotland, so I always supported them,” he said.
“I first played for the exiles at 15, which is when I really made the choice, then was lucky enough to play Under-19s and Under-20s when we were quite successful.”
Although he’s captained Glasgow before and plans to get Al Kellock’s input this week he believes that this team has plenty of leaders.
“I’ll be looking to other guys because you don’t want to be hearing just one voice all week,” he said. “John Barclay, Jim Hamilton, Sean Lamont, there are lots of guys with experience.”
Hamilton, with Gilchrist returning and the Gray brothers the incumbent locks, knows that he needs a big performance if he’s to make the squad.
“There is huge emphasis on these matches,” he said. “They are warm up games for the World Cup, but the way I and a number of guys are looking at it is we’re pulling on a Scotland jersey and playing a proper test match against Ireland, one of the best sides in the world who had a good hit-out last week and hit the ground running.
“I would be stupid to look beyond that because anything can happen in terms of injury or whatever. When we put the jersey on we want to look at the here and now and not beyond that.”
Scotland squad:
Backs: Dougie Fife, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Peter Horne, Ruaridh Jackson, Sean Lamont, Henry Pyrgos (capt), Tommy Seymour, Greig Tonks, Richie Vernon, Tim Visser, Duncan Weir.
Forwards: John Barclay, Hugh Blake, Fraser Brown, Blair Cowan, Mike Cusack, David Denton, Allan Dell, Grant Gilchrist, Ryan Grant, Jim Hamilton, Rob Harley, Stuart McInally, Gordon Reid, Jon Welsh.