Uncapped Glasgow front-rower Johnny Matthews revealed he was stunned to get a call out of the blue on Saturday asking him to fly to France to join Scotland’s World Cup squad.
The 30-year-old was enjoying a day out in the Fife coastal town of Elie when assistant coach John Dalziel phoned to tell him his services were required after Stuart McInally suffered a neck injury and had to withdraw just over a week after the 33-year-old Edinburgh forward got his own late call-up to replace the concussed Dave Cherry.
Matthews – effectively the Scots’ sixth-choice hooker – rushed back to Glasgow to get himself organised and caught a flight to Nice on Sunday morning before being officially added to the squad.
“I’m buzzing to be here,” he said, speaking from the Scots’ training base in the south of France on Tuesday afternoon.
“I was very shocked to get the call but I’m obviously delighted and just looking to throw my hat into the ring to try to get some games while I’m here.
“I was in Elie with my wife and some good friends when I got the call from John. We were taking the dogs for a walk and when I saw John’s number pop up I knew he wasn’t phoning for a catch-up.
“He said ‘how quickly can you get to Nice?’ and now I’m here. It didn’t really feel real until I got here. It was a whirlwind 24 hours, trying to get packed, find my gumshield, get my boots and all the other stuff I needed.
“My boots were at (Glasgow’s home ground) Scotstoun, so I had to shoot there and get them to keep the place open. I then quickly packed and got on a 6am flight on Sunday morning.
“Once I finally got here and got the (Scotland World Cup) kit, that’s when it felt real. My wife flew out with me so she is loving it too.”
Liverpool-born Matthews – who qualifies for Scotland through his Blantyre-born mother – enjoyed an impressive season for Glasgow.
However, he knew it would be a tall order to make the initial squad, with George Turner, Ewan Ashman, Cherry, McInally and Fraser Brown all more established in the international fold.
Ultimately the misfortune of Cherry and McInally over the past few weeks, allied to an ACL injury sustained by Brown in May, paved the way for Matthews to land an unlikely crack at the biggest tournament in the game.
“My aim is to play for Glasgow, and if you do that, you’re always in contention for the Scotland squad I suppose,” he said when asked if the possibility of World Cup involvement had featured prominently in his thoughts.
“The more I played for Glasgow, the more my hopes got a little bit higher, but it’s a very hotly-contested position. There are five or six brilliant hookers in Scotland so I’m just happy to be here.
“I was hoping I had an outside chance of making it into the original training squad, but it’s a pretty settled group and there have been the same three, four or five hookers in the last x-amount of squads so I knew I’d have to do pretty well to get in.
“I was disappointed but it wasn’t a shock that I didn’t get in.”
With Matthews’ only international appearance to date coming for Scotland A against Chile in June 2022, he now has the chance to win his first full cap at a World Cup, with must-win pool games against Romania and Ireland to come over the next two weekends.
Asked if he ever thought his opportunity of playing for Scotland had passed him by, Matthews – a prolific try-scorer at club level – said: “You never say never – you just keep playing well for Glasgow, keep scoring and you’ve always got a chance I suppose.
“It’s a hotly-contested position but I’ll do all I can over the next few days and hopefully I can get in the (match-day) squad. Rugby is a pretty brutal and physical contact sport and hookers are at the coalface.
“I’m gutted for the boys who have missed out on the opportunity (due to injury) but at the same time you’ve got to look out for yourself and take the opportunity when it presents itself.”
Although he has not had the same intensive pre-season build-up that the rest of the Scotland players were subjected to, Matthews – who has thrived under Glasgow head coach Franco Smith – feels he is in good condition.
“I tried to keep myself in a shape that wasn’t round over the summer,” he smiled.
“I didn’t want to come into Franco’s pre-season unfit anyway. Anyone who has done one of them will tell you you can’t be unfit going into that.”
Gatland 'still the best coach in the world', says Wales assistant Howley
Wales assistant Rob Howley described Warren Gatland as the "world's best coach" and insists the under-fire boss is going nowhere.
Wales have lost each of their last 11 Test matches, their longest ever run in men’s rugby, overtaking a 10-game stretch between November 2002 and August 2003.
Their most recent defeat came by 32 points (20-52 v Australia), their heaviest loss since a 36-point thrashing at home to South Africa in August last year (16-52).
And it is not going to get any easier with world champions South Africa the visitors to the Principality Stadium on Saturday for Wales' Autumn Nations Series finale.
South Africa have emerged victorious in six of their last seven Tests against Wales (L1) and have also won each of their last three games against Wales by margins of 16+ points.
Another triumph would see Wales going the calendar year without winning a Test, which has not happened since 1937, though Howley has no doubt that Wales are in safe hands.
"We've got the best coach in the world who has had a legacy of more than 13 years," said Howley.
"He's won Grand Slams and there is no better coach to have in your camp than Warren. He gives players the confidence and self-belief they need to go out and play."
During Gatland's first stint in charge from 2008 to 2019, Wales were World Cup semi-finalists, Six Nations champions and Grand Slam winners.
This time around, amid far more challenging circumstances and attempting to mould a new squad, Wales have won just six out of his 23 Tests at the helm.
Wales have also won just one of their last 11 Test matches at the Principality Stadium, last winning in Cardiff against Argentina in November 2023.
Howley was asked if he would take an interim head coach job if Gatland departed, but responded defiantly by saying, "Warren Gatland won't leave".
Howley insists Gatland's experiences can help turn Wales around, saying: "Warren is a hugely respected coach and has coached over a number of years.
"His legacy with different teams is a winning legacy. At the moment, we are in this spell where we are losing.
"We at some point know we will win, and I hope it will be the next game on Saturday. I think at the moment we've got the best coach who has got years of experience.
"We've been in changing rooms where we've won and lost, Lions changing rooms going into the series at 1-1 with everything on the line.
"He understands rugby, and I believe Wales have got the best coach in the world to get us out of this."
Farrell backs 'composed' Prendergast to shine on first Ireland start
Andy Farrell believes Sam Prendergast is ready to step up ahead of his first Ireland start against Fiji at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Farrell has made seven changes to his team, handing first caps to Leinster's Gus McCarthy and Ulster's Cormac Izuchukwu for the penultimate game of the Autumn Nations Series.
The Ireland head coach has handed Prendergast the number 10 jersey for the first time after he was used off the bench in the closing stages of last week's win over Argentina.
Prendergast has only started eight games for Leinster, but Farrell had no hesitation in handing him a first start after he impressed on the Emerging Ireland tour of South Africa.
"I'm confident from what we've seen. We took him on the Emerging [Ireland] and he played in all of those games," said Farrell.
"The aim of that was to grab hold of that team and make sure that he treated it like it was his own, as though he was in charge, and he did that in spades.
"This week we've seen the benefit of that, but we need to see it transfer, obviously.
"Yes, his character is composed, confident but yet not over-confident. He's assertive in what he wants, and he has a nice way about how he goes about his business.”
Farrell also had a glowing review for Izuchukwu, saying: "Izzy has been in and around the squad for a while. The first Emerging Ireland tour was when we first came across his ability, his athleticism, his point of difference.
"That was a couple of years ago but the improvement in his maturity of his game, because he was young in the 15-a-side game when the first tour was on, but the difference between the first and second tour was like chalk and cheese.
"His ability and potential with that maturity, he deserves a shot to show us all what he's got."
On McCarthy, who captained the Ireland Under-20s to a Six Nations Grand Slam in 2023, Farrell said: "He's been a captain and you can see why because his maturity in how he goes about the game."
He added: "We took him on the training week [to Portugal] as a development player and he showed up unbelievably well. He forced our hand to keep him in the squad first and foremost and he deserves a shot to see what he can do as well."
Ciaran Frawley also returns to the bench after missing out last weekend on the back of a poor outing against New Zealand.
And Cian Healy must wait another week for a record-breaking 134th cap - having drawn level with Brian O'Driscoll against Argentina - after the prop was left out of the 23.
Ireland team to play Fiji
Jamie Osborne; Mack Hansen, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale; Sam Prendergast, Craig Casey; Andrew Porter, Gus McCarthy, Finlay Bealham; Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne; Cormac Izuchukwu, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt).
Replacements: Rob Herring, Tom O'Toole, Thomas Clarkson, Iain Henderson, Cian Prendergast, Conor Murray, Ciaran Frawley, Stuart McCloskey.
'World-class' Scotland will provide Wallabies' sternest test – Skelton
Australia will face their sternest test to date when they continue their autumn tour against a "world-class" Scotland team at Murrayfield on Sunday.
That is the view of forward Will Skelton, who believes the Wallabies' victories in England and Wales have brought a new energy and confidence to their camp.
Having crashed out in the pool stage at last year's World Cup in France before finishing last in the Rugby Championship, Australia have looked a team reborn in recent weeks.
A first victory at Twickenham since 2015 and a 52-20 rout of Wales – their biggest-ever away win in matches between the teams – have made it an excellent tour to date for Joe Schmidt's side.
But La Rochelle lock Skelton feels their toughest assignment is to come this week, saying: "We've won two games, we're very aware of that.
"The Test against Scotland is going to be the hardest one yet. We're excited about this weekend and we're looking forward to ripping into it.
"Physically they're up there with the top five in the world. I think set-piece wise they're really strong.
"You've got a guy like Finn Russell who's a maestro at the back there. I think it's going be a close one and we'll be up for it.
"There's some class players in the Scottish team and, when they're at it they're world-class, so we're going to have to be on top of our game."
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