LONG READ Fergus Watson: 'I grew up wearing my granddad's Scotland cap - I want one of those'

As a young boy in Biggar, Fergus Watson coveted his grandfather’s Scotland cap. Bill Watson is in his late seventies now but some 50 years ago, wore the thistle 10 times alongside such giants as Andy Irvine, Ian McLauchlan, Jim Renwick and Sir Ian McGeechan. He would later run the whole Scottish Rugby enterprise as CEO during the turbulent early years of professionalism.

More than two decades since leaving office, those connections are still felt by his 21-year-old grandson, a muscle-bound wing who should see meaningful action for Glasgow this season. Usually, the familial memories are warm. Sometimes, though, the ripples from the past hit different.

In his first week of training with Scotland U20s, Watson saw the looming figure of forwards coach Fergus Pringle appear. Pringle, who is now in charge of the age-grade team, had worked under Bill at the famous Boroughmuir club in Edinburgh.

Watson remembers the conversation going something like this: “He came up to me and asked, ‘is Bill Watson your grandfather?’.

“’Yeah.’

“’I’m pretty sure he fired me from Boroughmuir.’

“Oh, well that’s a great start.”

 

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Today, grandfather and grandson watch rugby together. Bill marvels at the size and power of the modern player. Fergus asks him about those sepia days before agents and GPS units and protein shakes. The Watson family were invited into the changing room when Fergus delivered a player of the match display on debut against Benetton back in March. To have Bill at his side was particularly poignant.

“Growing up and seeing his cap and wearing it, I was like, ‘I want one of those one day’,” Watson says. “My mum and dad worked quite a lot, so we spent one or two days a week with my grandparents, playing in the garden and whatnot. He’s been to most of my games, followed most of the journey.

“He gave me a handshake and a ‘well done’ after my debut. He had a bit of a look in his eye and I understood what he meant. As long as I keep making him proud, I’m doing something right. For him to be there in that moment was pretty special, to get my family in the changing room and see the jersey presentation.

“We were looking back at old match programmes recently and they had the weights of the players recorded in them. Comparing that to nowadays, I would have been one of the heaviest players there. My granddad was just saying how much the game has changed. When I go home and sit and watch rugby with him, it’s quite interesting to hear his interpretations and he is asking me things as well.”

At 6ft 4ins and over 100kg, Watson is indeed a mighty specimen. But he’s softly-spoken beyond the field. He says he was more nervous about his post-match speech than the prospect of that first URC outing itself.

Fittingly, his jersey was presented by Josh McKay. They are different characters, the colourful Kiwi outdoorsman and the quiet young Scot, but McKay has played a mentor’s role in the rise of his back-three colleague. He addressed the group, speaking about the November hamstring injury which put Watson out for four months, praised the sweat he had spilled on the gym floor layering mass to his frame, gesturing at a shirtless Watson: “Look at the state of ya!” As McKay qualifies for Scotland on residency in just two months, there is a chance they could play together at Test level someday.

“I remember first coming in and Josh was one of the first guys to speak to me, come up and shake my hand,” Watson says. “Being in the same position, he was always really approachable. I could ask him anything and he always had time to give me an answer. Even now, in the gym, he’s having banter with us.

“He told me not to dwell on mistakes and when you do something well, he’d make sure you knew. Even on my debut he told me to go out there and have fun, and he’d give me the ball. It liberates you from pressure knowing he’s got your back.”

Watson scored a typically power-packed try that day, but with Kyle Steyn, Jamie Dobie, Kyle Rowe, Ollie Smith and McKay in the mix, played only one more Warriors game last term. His cameo, and his potential, were enough to earn him a summer invitation to train with Scotland in Madrid before their Nations Championship campaign.

The high ball as we saw over the All Blacks-Springboks games recently, they’ve really gone after that and that has really defined who is going to win. I need to keep pushing that.

“I’ve done it in the Six Nations where you go in for the day but to be in that environment and be accepted by the other boys – I kind of felt because I’d played this year, I had a bit more respect.

“A lot of the Glasgow boys were in as well, so I was able to have a bit more banter which made me feel more comfortable on the pitch and express myself. You can just see it’s a step up but it doesn’t seem crazy far away.”

Luke O’Dea, Glasgow’s academy strength and conditioning coach, deserves a mention here. He’s one of several people who have helped Watson make sure Test rugby does not feel like a distant prospect. On O’Dea’s watch, Watson’s gym output has rocketed, his bench press soaring from under 100kg to the gym bro’s gold standard of ‘three wheels’ – a trio of 20kg plates on either side of the bar for a total of 140kg. These gains in strength and power have allowed Watson to harness his talent and make an impact in the men’s game.

“I’ve been able to lift weights I never thought I’d be able to. He was the real turner for me, making sure we were hitting targets but in the right manner. I could speak to him about anything. That’s what he instilled. He’s one of your mates rather than your coach. Even when it got tough, you are getting absolutely flogged, and we are in the red bib team training against the main team, it’s good to have a guy in your corner.”

Watson’s obvious goal is to better last season’s haul of two appearances. Interestingly, he has played full-back in Glasgow’s pre-season fixtures. He has the weaponry to realise his ambitions, but knows there are aspects of his game to refine.

“I’d say my ball-carrying ability, beating defenders, that’s my super-strength,” he says, when asked what sets him apart from his rivals.

“My aerial game, trying to be a presence in the air and win the space as well as the ball with the way the game is evolving. The high ball as we saw over the All Blacks-Springboks games recently, they’ve really gone after that and that has really defined who is going to win. I need to keep pushing that. I’m trying to work on my kicking game as well. Maybe not so much at wing but if I’m playing full-back, looking for those corners.

“And also defensively, trying to put myself in trickier, uncomfortable positions and seeing how I cope with that. Scott [Forrest, Glasgow’s defence coach] is really good at helping us with that, making us be brave, testing your height and width in the defensive line.”

This has been the summer of Watson’s life. Running with the big dogs in Madrid, a family jaunt to the south of France, and an altogether different holiday in Ibiza with five fellow members of the Glasgow ‘young team’. “The age range of people there was crazy,” he says. “You’re in a club and look over and the people dancing next to you are old enough to be your mum and dad.”

The boys on the Ocean Beach dance floor will become the core of the Glasgow squad in the years ahead. Franco Smith has brought through more academy players this past year than ever before, as the union tightens its belt and casts a scrupulous eye over recruitment from abroad. The opportunity to build a home-grown nucleus with his closest friends, and become the heart of the club in years to come, is not lost on Watson.

“To be able to come into work every day and it’s with your pals, and then on the weekend there to be playing with all the boys, it’s real good fun.

“It’s so good for them to all be signing as pros too, I’m so happy for them because it wouldn’t be the same without all of them. I’d have met guys like Johnny Ventisei and Matty Urwin when I was 16, and to come all the way through with them was pretty special. To share the pitch with them in a URC or European fixture would be cool.”