'Liberated' Glen Young driven on by Rugby World Cup carrot

Rugby World Cup 2027 may still be just over a year away, but its looming presence is already there in the bodies and minds of many a pro gearing up for the new season.

The rested and freshly conditioned bodies, at least those not already carrying knocks, are somewhere approaching match-readiness as the United Rugby Championship and Gallagher PREM prepare for lift-off next week.

And despite the 12-month marathon to make it to the start line Down Under, minds are being sharpened by the prospect of participating in the next global rugby gathering.

Edinburgh’s Glen Young is no different. It may be over two years since he won the last of his four Scotland caps – against Canada on his only Test start, before a torn pectoral muscle forced him home and a wretched season battling further injury hassles ensued.

Having slipped down the national pecking order as a result, there are now a slew of at least 10 other locks jostling for Gregor Townsend’s selectorial attention.

But after slogging through eight weeks of pre-season training, the 31-year-old Borderer’s ambition still burns brightly with that World Cup carrot on the horizon.

“For me, I wouldn’t shy away from saying it would be a goal,” Young said. “You’d be silly if you said you didn’t want to play in a World Cup. Realistically I am not getting any younger so if I was to go to one, this is probably my best chance now.

“It just goes hand in hand with playing well for Edinburgh. I am a big believer in you can only control the controllables, so if I can put my hand up here… we have some good locks who will drive each other on. But obviously I would love to go. It would be such a cool experience.”

Earlier this year, Young was fighting to preserve his professional future with only months left on his Edinburgh deal and actively looking at future alternatives beyond rugby as he spent time with businesses in the renewable energy sector.

But a series of consistent, energetic displays – he was involved in 20 of Edinburgh’s 23 matches last season, starting 14 including a couple at blindside flanker – earned him a new one-year contract to extend his stay in the Scottish capital into a sixth season after previous spells at Newcastle, Doncaster and Harlequins.

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United Rugby Championship

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25 Sep 26

Edinburgh

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Young still faces a battle for regular action with his club, never mind Scotland, with the evergreen Grant Gilchrist (now the nation’s most capped lock), Marshall Sykes, Callum Hunter-Hill, the 6ft 11in Rob Carmichael and young thrusters such as Scotland Under-20s standout Christian Lindsay also demanding game-time.

But with Gilchrist sidelined until mid-October with a bicep tear, there is an early opportunity to lay down a marker.

“It’s a good second-row group and we work together; we know each other’s strengths and how each other works,” Young said.

“Even when Gilcho’s injured, we’re still leaning on his experience and he’s always helping me out. We’ll be lucky when he comes back, but hopefully I’ll get a bit of game time and put my hand up.

“I feel good. I’m quite a confidence-based player and if I get a lot of game time, I seem to thrive on that confidence. It was obviously a tough year for the team last season but personally I enjoyed getting loads of game time.

“I was more stressed about it a couple of years ago when I didn’t really have a plan away from rugby, but I’m just enjoying it. I’ve only got another one-year deal so if this is my last year, I’m going to make sure I enjoy it.

“I had the same attitude last year. We were playing away in France and I was like, ‘this could be the last time you play in France’. It’s quite liberating to have that attitude. You play a bit more freely. It doesn’t mean you start doing stupid things, it’s just taking the pressure off yourself, enjoying the moment and putting your all into it, really.

“I made sure I kept ticking over in the off-season. I took a bit of a break, but I wanted to hit the ground running on day one and be nice and fit to put myself in the shop window. If you get a good pre-season under your belt, it sets you up for a good season.”

Edinburgh have been a tough, stodgy watch at times in recent years. Plenty of muscle and graft up front, but often lacking accuracy at key moments and the wit to harness their forward power and unlock some of their star-studded backline talent.

Midway through his third season in charge, head coach Sean Everitt was handed a new two-year contract extension in January, a decision that divided opinion as the capital side proceeded to slump to a 12th-place finish in the URC, 16 points adrift of the play-off position they had occupied 12 months earlier.

The fall guys were three of Everitt’s assistant coaches, with only forwards coach Stevie Lawrie surviving. Three new Australian voices have been drafted in to take charge of attack (Tim Sampson), defence (Brad Davis) and skills/contact (Michael Hodge).
The latter, who only arrived three weeks ago from his previous role with the Irish Rugby Union, underlined the principle change of emphasis being drilled into the squad in pre-season.

“We want to play fast and that’s on both sides of the ball,” said Hodge, a former player with NSW Waratahs and the Australia Sevens team. “We want it to look fast as well – in our line speed in defence, our transitions in attack, our ruck speed and how we want to play. We’ve certainly got the squad we think can play that sort of way. It’s exciting and hopefully you see that come through.”

Young, who will face his former club Harlequins in Edinburgh’s final pre-season hit-out at The Stoop on Friday, believes the new personnel and approach will pay dividends.

“It’s always a bit nerve-wracking getting new coaches coming in; you don’t know if they’re going to like you or not, but we have hit it off well,” he added.

“It’s exciting. We have simplified the message a little bit. As a player, the messaging seems pretty clear in what we want to do which is good, because that means it’s quite easy to measure if we are doing what we said we were going to be doing. We know if we get that right, we will be in a decent space.

“The first couple of weeks were really tough when we were integrating the ‘play fast’ kind of stuff. I was struggling a bit – my calves were a bit tight! But we have conditioned ourselves well towards it now.

“The boys like myself who have been in since day one have been going for eight weeks so I am just looking forward to getting into the games now.”