LONG READ Patrick Schickerling: ‘I'd be lying if I said playing for Scotland is not part of my ambitions’

There were plenty of moments in Glasgow’s dogged Champions Cup last-16 victory over the Bulls last weekend when Patrick Schickerling looked every inch the prototype modern-day, multi-faceted front-rower.

A forceful early counter-ruck to win a turnover, powerful carries to get the hosts on the front foot, one break down the touchline featuring a sweet dummy and offload. Winning a vital penalty on the floor was another sign of a prop’s ever-evolving job description.

Charging on to Ben Afshar’s pass from a slick tap-penalty routine and driving over – with a helping hand from Gregor Hiddleston – for a bullocking second-half try certainly made the highlights reel, but milking a scrum penalty from opposite number Francois Klopper, after Glasgow had come under early pressure at the set-piece, may have brought a warmer glow to this prop’s heart.

“I didn’t have much chance to think about all the other stuff. The battle in the scrum was tough, so I was just narrowing down on trying to dominate the set-piece,” he said. “That’s a big strength of theirs so we always knew we had to go in front-on and fight fire with fire.”

The 27-year-old did concede his 66 minutes on the field – the longest shift of his senior career – was “up there” among his best displays for Warriors, even if it elicited no special praise from head coach Franco Smith.

“You don’t really want to hear from Franco, as he will tell you if there’s something wrong. But if things go well, you don’t tend to hear from him, so you just keep working hard and doing what you’re doing.”

The extra bells and whistles that now garnish Schickerling’s game may be a product of Smith’s commitment to individual player development, or they may have been there all along. Whisper it, but he wasn’t always a paid-up member of the front-row union.

“It’s kind of weird. I actually started the furthest thing away from prop – on the wing,” he grins. “Then I moved to the centres. Then I became a back-rower and then a hooker, and eventually I became a prop. As I got bigger and the belly got a bit bigger, I moved more to the front. I got a steal on the weekend so maybe that back-row instinct is still there.”

This early dabbling among the fancy-dan backs came after discovering rugby as a seven-year-old in the Namibian coastal town of Walvis Bay, where Schickerling grew up among the sand dunes, flamingos and dolphins on the edge of the Namib Desert.

I had to get on a plane when I was 19 years old by myself across the world, not really knowing what was on the other side to be honest. I wasn’t even sure what I was going to get paid or where I’d live.

“I loved living on the coast. It was a small town with not a lot of people, but I had my family around and the sun was mostly out. Rugby is very big in Namibia so I played all the way through high school and up to Namibia Under-20s.

“I’ve always dreamt of playing on the big stage of rugby, but I never knew whether that would be in South Africa or potentially the [English] Premiership overseas. It was always just a big dream, but then I was fortunate enough to be put in that position.”

After a brief spell playing for South African outfit the Pumas in the Currie Cup, Schickerling’s performances for Namibia at the 2018 World Rugby U20 Trophy – a level below the Junior World Championship – saw his career path take a different turn.

Remarkably, an article in this media outlet highlighting ‘six diamonds in the rough’ to emerge from the tournament – Schickerling was described as “a big slab of meat” – led to him packing his bags and jumping on a flight to England. Destination: Sandy Park, Exeter.

“I have to credit RugbyPass in some ways,” Schickerling says. “After that article, I had a few agencies messaging me and then I signed with BSMI Rugby. We worked out that my [Austrian] mum’s got an Austrian passport so I wouldn’t need a visa to be playing in Europe. It all happened very quickly because they sorted me out a deal within a week.

“I had to get on a plane when I was 19 years old by myself across the world, not really knowing what was on the other side to be honest. I wasn’t even sure what I was going to get paid or where I’d live.”

Only speaking English as a second language, Schickerling struggled initially to decipher the array of different dialects in the Chiefs academy as he got to grips with life as a professional rugby player.

“It was quite a diverse group – there were Scots, Irish, English, a lot of different accents to try to learn. But I loved it there, growing into the Chiefs’ systems and the Premiership. I definitely had to become more professional in the way I eat and how I go about my weekends.”

Those were heady days in Devon, Schickerling pitching up at Sandy Park with Exeter on the march to a fourth of six straight Premiership finals. There were a couple of outings off the bench in their annus mirabilis of 2019-20, when the Chiefs won a remarkable European Champions Cup and Premiership double, but he had to be patient.

I was quite raw coming to England and that’s where I started getting better in the set-pieces, playing in the Championship. It’s mostly scrums and mauls down there.

Sent out for game-time to Chinnor and Guernsey in the English National Leagues, a subsequent spell with Cornish Pirates in the Championship accelerated his development in short order.

“I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason,” he said. “Originally I wasn’t even going to go to Pirates; someone else was and then he was concussed in training, so they took me as a loan player down there.

“That was probably the biggest pivotal moment of my career, playing regularly for Pirates, having Alan Paver as my coach. I was quite raw coming to England and that’s where I started getting better in the set-pieces, playing in the Championship. It’s mostly scrums and mauls down there. It played a massive role in my career, especially scrummaging wise.”

Recalled by Exeter amid a front-row injury crisis, Schickerling’s rugby journey took off. He’d only started six senior games for Chiefs at tighthead when he got a call from Eddie Jones inviting him to attend an England alignment camp ahead of an end-of-season, uncapped game against the Barbarians in June 2022 before a tour of Australia.

“I was quite young, it was all new to me and I didn’t really expect to be involved, so it was a big moment for me to play in that England game.”

His involvement lasted all of nine minutes after copping a high, no-arms tackle from the gargantuan Wallabies lock Will Skelton – who became the first Baa-Baas’ player to be red-carded – and being forced off with a concussion.

“It was emotional for me; I felt like I wasn’t going to get picked for the Australia tour because I didn’t have enough time to showcase what I could do. So when Eddie spoke to me the morning after the game saying I’m going to tour Australia, I was over the moon. I kind of couldn’t believe it, but I’m very grateful for that experience.”

Schickerling was not involved in any of England’s three Tests Down Under and his dream of performing on the biggest stage swiftly turned sour when it emerged he should not have been selected given the three-year residency rule – which he had completed in November 2021 – had been extended to five at the start of 2022.

I just thought I followed the rules and they accepted me, so I didn’t expect it to be true. But it definitely brought me back down to earth again.

He started the 2022-23 season on a high with a last-minute winning try against Leicester before a call from Jones before the autumn Tests confirmed his fate.

“It was a good part of my life but also a difficult one, going from the Pirates all the way to England, playing against the Barbarians and then a month or two later, I was deemed ineligible,” he recalled. “Things were going on behind the scenes that were out of my control. I just thought I followed the rules and they accepted me, so I didn’t expect it to be true. But it definitely brought me back down to earth again.”

Switching all his energy to Exeter, Schickerling brought consistent impact off the bench in the Premiership and helped Chiefs to a Premiership Rugby Cup title, starting the final against London Irish.

But when momentum stalled during his final season in Devon, Franco Smith offered Schickerling the chance to pursue his dreams anew at Glasgow. Almost exclusively a tighthead until arriving at Scotstoun, the South African saw in Schickerling a prop with the potential to operate on both sides of the scrum.

He started three games in the No.1 jersey last season around the Test windows, when one, two or all three of the club’s looseheads, Rory Sutherland, Jamie Bhatti and Nathan McBeth, were away with Scotland.

“I think it was important for me to be able to play both sides but more recently I’ve just found myself getting picked on the left (at loosehead),” Schickerling said. “But I also still want to be able to do both sides when I’m needed. I don’t mind which side I play – I played a bit of loosehead in high school, so it wasn’t a completely new thing to me.”

His first season with the club ended last April with a torn tendon in his foot – sustained under the pressure of scrummaging against the Bulls – but recent months have seen Schickerling increasingly entrusted as Smith’s starting loosehead in the biggest games, including the Champions Cup pool stage wins over Clermont and Saracens, and last week’s victory over Bulls.

We know we are on fire and if we play the way we know we can, all these things will happen if everyone does their job.

It may not have been vintage Warriors in driving rain and strong wind, but it was still good enough to put away a side laden with 14 Boks in their match-day 23 and sets up Glasgow’s first home quarter-final in Europe’s elite club tournament this Saturday against Toulon – with a more than decent shot at reaching the semis for the first time.

“We’re aiming to play in finals and bigger things and these are the kind of steps you take before you reach those things,” Schickerling notes. “We know what Toulon bring – they are a big heavy side – and we are formulating a plan for that.

“It will be exciting to play at our fortress again and hopefully get the win. We are just focused on being the best we can be. We know we are on fire and if we play the way we know we can, all these things will happen if everyone does their job.”

Other enticing prospects may follow further down the line if Schickerling continues to progress at his current rate. He has another season beyond this one on his Glasgow contract, and hopes to earn at least a two-year extension which could see him qualify for Scotland on residency in the summer of 2029.

He will be 30 by then, but given Scotland’s loosehead incumbent, Pierre Schoeman, will be 35, Bhatti 36 and Sutherland 37, and the current ‘emerging’ option, McBeth, will be 31, Schickerling’s hopes of resurrecting his Test ambitions look promising at this distance, given the lack of young thrusters demanding further recognition.

I always had the dream of playing in the Six Nations and playing for a nation that competes for the World Cup

“Obviously most rugby players have aspirations to play international rugby,” added Schickerling, whose native Namibia play few matches outside World Cups against elite opposition, and failed to qualify for the 2027 edition.

“I believe if I can sign for Glasgow for two more years, I can qualify for Scotland when I turn 30. I’d be lying if I said it’s not part of my ambitions. I always had the dream of playing in the Six Nations and playing for a nation that competes for the World Cup, so I thought I first want to go full out for that.

“But for now I just need to continue playing well for Glasgow. That’s the only thing I’m focusing on because these things will happen if you continue to play well for your club.”