Zander Fagerson readily signed on with Glasgow Warriors until 2019 and is now geared to helping the club to a second successive Guinness PRO12 title.
The 20-year-old tighthead prop, a product of Strathallan School and the High School of Dundee, has had a swift rise through the ranks from teenage Academy player to his first Scotland cap in the Calcutta match back in February.
And chief executive Nathan Bombrys has probably never had such an easy task to get a signature from the Dundee-born Fagerson, who is tipped for big things.
“It didn’t take long,” he said. “I love being at this club, a great bunch of boys, coaches and loads of opportunities ahead so I grasped it with both hands.
“It’s still a big fight here for places, we’ve got D’Arcy Rae, Sila Puafisi, Jarrod Firth and Javien Sebastian. You have got to earn your position, it is not a given right.”
But his rise up the ranks particularly in a position where players generally don’t mature in physique and experience until much later in their careers has been astonishing to him as well.
“It has not really sunk in yet, I think that in the summer I may well look back and say that was a pretty good year,” he said. “I am enjoying my time now and enjoying my rugby.
“I was chuffed last year just to be involved with Glasgow so to stay here for longer and get as much game time as I have has been surreal.”
He puts his rise down to Glasgow policy of mixing academy players in with the senior squad, and the peer pressure that entails.
“It is a sink or swim environment,” he said. “You get an opportunity and you either do well or you drop the ball and get a row from the boys.
“It is a very hostile environment especially for a young boy you muck up and you definitely know about it – but it definitely helped me progress massively. Being around so many Scotland and Fiji internationals, you really strive to pick up your standards.”
Zander has also been given highly specialised conditioning, although his weight had actually dropped from his 132kgs at school to about 127kgs now.
Mealtimes at the Fagerson household in Kirriemuir can be fraught, with three younger brothers Matt, Agris and Nathaniel, and the youngest, sister Rachel.
“Matt’s the Scotland Under-18 captain, Agris is a hockey player, Nathaniel is a musician, but they’re all going to be even bigger than me,” he said. “My mum says the weekly grocery bill is over £200 and you can imagine when we’re all together it’s like a fight to the death.”
And despite the modern techniques and high-pressure professional training, there’s no substitute for schooling in the dark arts of the front row.
“Every scrum you learn something new, it is a great position to be in, you are always learning,” he said.
“I remember a few years back, playing a game for Hawks 2s and there was a 42-year-old loosehead whose mission for the day was just to make my life hell.
“My neck was a bit sore the next day and I had rosy cheeks but it made me a better player. I really appreciate those games, every game helps but that was one of those where I learned the most.”
Glasgow are making another run at the PRO12 title and a win at Scarlets, whom they leapfrogged in the table last week, at the weekend it would go a long way to securing a play-off place.
“Scarlets have been performing pretty well this year and (loose head) Rob Evans started every Six Nations game for Wales. It is a big game and a big opportunity for us.”