Rory Sutherland ready to make Scotland mark after off-field upheaval

Rory Sutherland is adamant he can still perform a starting role for Scotland as the embattled former British and Irish Lion outlined his renewed sense of contentment on and off the field ahead of Sunday’s Guinness Six Nations showdown with Ireland.

After recovering from a career-threatening groin injury sustained in 2016, the 32-year-old established himself as Scotland’s first-choice loosehead for both the 2020 and 2021 Six Nations campaigns and then went on to start for the Lions in the first test of the series against South Africa in July 2021.

Since the high of that tour three and a half years ago, Sutherland has started only six matches for Scotland, with the majority of the 22 caps he has added in that period coming off the bench.

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A big factor has been the impressive form of Pierre Schoeman since the South Africa-born Edinburgh prop became eligible for Gregor Townsend’s team in late 2021, but the Glasgow forward made a big impact as he came on for the last half-hour to help the Scots regain control and close out a 31-19 win at home to Italy on Saturday.

Asked if he felt equipped to push for a starting place in the current championship, Sutherland: “Yeah, absolutely. With international rugby, it’s tough, there’s very high pressure all the time so when you get an opportunity, you have to take it, regardless of whether you’re starting or on the bench. Whatever opportunities come my way, I’ll be ready to take them.”

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Sutherland’s Scotland situation has not been helped by the fact he has struggled for sustained momentum at club level since his Lions involvement. Having been at Edinburgh for seven years, he moved to Worcester in 2021, only to see that move turn sour when his contract was terminated after they entered administration a year later.

Then there was a stint in Ulster in early 2023 before he spoke of the “stress” of being at the World Cup in France later that year without having a contract lined up for the 2023-24 campaign.

The Hawick-born forward eventually landed a move to Top 14 side Oyonnax but was generally restricted to a substitute role before returning to Scotland last summer to join Glasgow, where he has found himself “in a good place”.

“I think the move to Worcester was the right thing for me at the time, I wanted to challenge myself, I wanted to take myself out of my comfort zone and it was the right thing to do,” he said, reflecting on his post-Lions journey.

“I went down there, the family loved it, it was a great club, the facilities were fantastic, great coaches and nobody could have foreseen what happened.

“All the sort of things that had happened in the past couple of years leading up to this year, I think it’s tough going somewhere when your hand’s forced, as opposed to you putting your hand up and saying, ‘right, I want to move now’.

“Going to Ulster, it was a great experience getting to go out there, experience how they train, experiencing their mindset around winning, I think that was fantastic for me.

“And going to the World Cup, there was that added stress, I went there without a contract, so there was a lot of pressure on me to perform and also stay fit to try and get a contract.

“And going out to France, I think it was a great experience for me, taking myself out of my comfort zone again, trying to learn a new language.

“I think all those bits have made me not only a better player, but a better person and I think I’m in a really good place now at Glasgow. My family are back in Scotland and they’re settled, they have stability, the kids are enjoying it at school. So, yeah, I’m in a good place.”

Scotland have lost their last 10 matches against Ireland and Sutherland, who has won 38 caps in total, believes a victory on Sunday – for the first time since February 2017 – would serve as a huge boost to his side.

“It would be massive,” he said. “Ireland are a team we hold in very high regard. I think there is a little bit of added spice there because it’s them, we’ve fallen short against them, but we’ve got a lot of respect for them.

“It’s a test we’re really looking forward to and I think it’s a test we’ll be well prepared to win.”