Jack Mann - 'I didn't expect it to be quite as sudden, but it was always a goal'

Jack Mann was chomping on some scallops at a seafood restaurant in Glasgow’s West End with his mum when the call came from Gregor Townsend.

His phone was on silent, so he missed it initially. The Scotland head coach had left a message: ‘Give me a call when you get a chance’.

Once he’d spotted it, the Glasgow No.8 decided it couldn’t wait so he went outside and called Townsend back. The strapping 25-year-old son of Midlothian farming stock had earned a Scotland call-up after just seven senior games for Warriors.

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“I went back in, told mum, and she burst into tears,” he recalled. “That was a nice moment. Then we called my dad and my sister from the restaurant.”

If Mann wasn’t necessarily expecting a call and might not have received one just yet but for an untimely injury to Edinburgh’s Ben Muncaster, he doesn’t strike you as a starry-eyed newcomer just pleased to be making up the numbers.

“I think it was something that I had my eye on,” he said. “A couple of weeks ago, I was thinking maybe a summer tour would be a good goal.

“But honestly, the last five, six, seven weeks, I’ve just been trying to focus on making the most of my opportunity at Glasgow. I knew that if I was to get myself into a Scotland squad, that would be how I was going to do it.”

Mann only played his second game for Glasgow eight weeks ago on 29 November in a URC game against Scarlets, nearly two years – 720 days to be precise – after his debut in a European Challenge Cup win over Bath at The Rec in December 2022.

Franco Smith then put him on the bench for Warriors’ first European Champions Cup pool game against Sale, and he started the following in Toulon, plus both URC festive derbies against Edinburgh and a European victory over Racing 92 a fortnight ago.

Jack Dempsey’s return from injury necessitated a breather for Mann last weekend but his meteoric rise saw him join 13 Warriors team-mates – it would have been 15 but for injuries to Sione Tuipulotu and Scott Cummings – at this week’s Scotland pre-Six Nations training camp.

“I felt like I could definitely live up to the standard that they require to be in here,” Mann said. “But at the same time, in this Scottish squad at the minute the back row is one of the most competitive positions.

“So I thought maybe not this time, especially with it being the Six Nations as well. But I’m buzzing with the opportunity, and I’m looking forward to getting stuck in. I definitely didn’t expect it to be quite as sudden as it has been in the last few weeks, but it was definitely always a goal of mine.”

That goal must have seemed a distant prospect over the past two years though, since Mann sustained a concussion on his Glasgow debut in late 2022. It was his third that year, when he had also played for Heriot’s in the now defunct Super Series.

That usually precipitates a three-month stand-down period, but if Mann had suffered another concussion within a year afterwards, he could have been looking at a statutory six months on the sidelines.

With a campaign ahead where the 2023 Rugby World Cup meant the URC didn’t start until late October, Warriors decided to err on the side of caution, extended his contract by six months and stood him down for the best part of a year. The plan was he would only miss four or five games at the start of the season.

Deprived of rugby, Mann put time into improving his golf handicap. “I never quite managed to get to single figures, but I got it down to 13,” he said.

But the uncertainty over when he might play again also caused him to contemplate a returning to the family farm in Carrington, just south of the capital, where he had worked while at Heriot’s after being let go by Edinburgh’s academy.

“It wouldn’t necessarily be what I might want to do, but it’s nice to have that option if everything went south with rugby,” he said. “That was my plan during the two years off if Glasgow didn’t keep me on. It was quite precarious.”

Unfortunately, two weeks after he returned to training, he broke his ankle in a bounce match, necessitating another long lay-off until the back-end of last season.

“There were definitely times in the last couple of years where I was really thinking: ‘Will I be able to get back to playing at a certain level and then exceed that level as well?’ It’s nice to be able to look back on that and think it was all worth it,” he said.

A group of friends forged at Scotstoun since their Under-20s days helped him deal with what he calls “some pretty dark moments”. Glasgow and Scotland full-back Ollie Smith, Mann’s old flat-mate, was a particularly close confidant. Smith has spent the last year recovering from a serious ACL knee injury himself.

“I lived with Ollie for my first couple of years at Glasgow. Just having someone you can come back and chat to when you’re feeling a bit down is a big help. Obviously, he’s had his own injury troubles as well. There were times in the flat where we were both a bit down, but it definitely helps to have someone else. I’m very fortunate in that regard.”

His family were also a “massive” support, as has been Zara Lipsey, a sports psychologist used by Glasgow, during his recent return to active service.

With Warriors team-mates Dempsey and Matt Fagerson currently ahead of him in the Scotland No.8 pecking order, Mann may have to wait a while for his first cap.

But the fact he is even within touching distance of it, having played so little elite rugby and spent so long on the sidelines, is almost a triumph in itself.

“He is a humble guy,” said his Glasgow head coach Smith after his Scotland call. “He is greatly appreciative of the opportunity and he is surely going to make the most of that. He can be really proud. He is an example for young boys to stick to their dream and keep working hard and use setbacks as motivation rather than demoralisation.”