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Blade Thomson thought his World Cup chance had slipped through his hands – now the Scotland forward is determined to grasp every opportunity that comes his way in Japan.
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The New Zealand-born Scarlets number eight was handed his first call-up by Gregor Townsend ahead of last autumn’s Murrayfield Tests.
But he was made to wait for his international bow as a nasty head knock sustained in the capital on club duty a week later ruled him out for all but the final two games of the season.
During the dark days of the five months Thomson spent out of action battling concussion-related symptoms, he convinced himself he would spend September and October watching from his sofa as rugby’s main event got under way.
Thankfully, his worries were without foundation.
The 28-year-old – who qualifies through his Wishaw-born grandfather – was finally able to pull on a Dark Blues kit against France at Murrayfield last month, with his 42-minute outing against Les Bleus enough to convince Townsend he should be on the plane to the Far East.
“If you asked me a year ago if I’d be playing in the Rugby World Cup it would be a definite no,” admitted the back-rower from Auckland. “It’s been a long journey and my family are super proud of where I am at the moment.
A late change of plan for Scotland. https://t.co/2BrAaT4WfT
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 8, 2019
“Did I fear the chance had gone after the concussion? Oh yeah 100 per cent.
“I was selected in the autumn but had one game to play for my club against Edinburgh up at Murrayfield.
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“I carried the ball, got knocked out and since then it was five months trying to work my way back to a point where the head bang was fine, I was injury free and able to play at a level where I was expected to if I was going to pull on the Thistle.
“It was tough – but you’ve just got to take it a day at a time. When they selected me in the training squad I was over the moon.
“I just thought at that point that I’ve got an opportunity now so I just tried to earn my place in the squad.
“So far, so good. Going forward I just have to keep earning it every week.”
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There was one last panic before Townsend confirmed his place in the 31-man travelling party as Thomson was taken off in the France Test having sustained yet another bang to the head.
WATCH | Check out the action from Scotland's final Summer Test match against Georgia at BT Murrayfield last Friday night ? #AsOnehttps://t.co/DAhQ5IEZfa
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) September 9, 2019
“That was more precautionary than anything,” he said with a look of relief. “They saw something that looked a bit, I don’t know, different. So they took me off.
“I felt fine. I had a minor headache but felt fine. But 100 per cent, I feared the worst. I thought: ‘Aw, there go my chances…’
“But they must have seen something because I’m here now.”
And he plans to squeeze everything out of his big opportunity.
A potential quarter-final showdown with the land of his birth remains a possibility if Scotland can fight their way through a group containing Ireland, Russia, Samoa and the hosts.
Asked if they could upset the All Blacks, he replied emphatically: “Of course we can. It’s anyone’s game on that day, you just have to show up with the right attitude, do the hard yards and get out there.”
World Cup city guide: Kumamoto
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments