Matt Fagerson revealed how he and brother Zander got to spend a “special” day with their devoted parents last week as they savoured the first time they had both played for Scotland in the same match at a World Cup.
The siblings featured in last Sunday’s 18-3 defeat by South Africa in Marseille.
Prop Zander, who had played at the previous World Cup, was on for the first 55 minutes at Stade Velodrome and back-rower Matt, who missed out on selection for the 2019 showpiece in Japan, was introduced from the bench in the 64th minute.
Although the result did not go as planned, the match held obvious sentimental value for the Fagerson family, and the brothers – two of five siblings – got to savour it with their parents Gwendolyn and Jonathan as the team were given some down time at the start of last week.
“It was amazing, our parents came through to Antibes (near the team’s World Cup base in the south of France) and me and Zander spent the day with them,” Matt told the PA news agency.
“It was really nice. We went for ice cream, had some food, went to the beach. They’re a huge part of why we do what we do and it was really special to have them out here and spend that time with them.
“We’re a very sporty family. Our little sister is in the Scotland hockey squad, one of our brothers ran a marathon the other day and our other brother is a DJ so everybody’s pretty busy at the moment.
“Our parents are incredibly proud of us and to be able to spend a couple of days with them out here was really special.”
At this time four years ago, Matt was at home, effectively on standby, after agonisingly missing out on selection for the squad.
The Glasgow back-rower has a good idea, therefore, of the range of emotions hooker Stuart McInally will have gone through after finding himself in a similar position over the past month before getting the call to join the squad on Wednesday after Dave Cherry withdrew with concussion after he banged his head when slipping on the stairs at the team hotel last Monday.
“We’re all gutted for Dave,” said Fagerson. “It was a terrible accident that happened and we’re all behind him but Rambo (McInally) was unfortunate not to make the squad in the first place. We have some quality hookers but Rambo’s a quality player and we’re stoked to have him back in the squad.
“In 2019, I had about a week to get over it and then I was back in with the Glasgow boys doing pre-season.
“The message to all the boys in that situation is to keep fit because things like this happen, injuries happen.
“It needs the whole squad buy-in. Injuries happen in our sport so everyone should try to stay fit because if you get the call to come out you have to make the most of it and integrate back into the team.
“Rambo has come back in great shape, he’s ready to hit the ground running.
“It’s definitely a weird old time for him. It was obviously really tough for him when he didn’t make the squad and he had to get over that but it’s a fairytale that he gets to come out here and hopefully get that 50th cap (he is currently on 49).”
After losing to South Africa, Scotland know they must win all three of their remaining pool matches against Tonga, Romania and Ireland. They will probably require bonus points from their next two outings to give themselves an opportunity to qualify for the quarter-finals when they go into their October showdown with the Irish in Paris.
“We’ve got an uphill battle now but we’ve got a lot of belief in the squad so we’re looking forward to it,” said Fagerson.
“We’re going to have to put our best foot forward against Tonga on Sunday and then hopefully get a big finish against Ireland.
“If you start looking for bonus points too early in a game you can sometimes miss the beat in the first half but I think we will probably need bonus points so we’ll be looking to up the scoreline.
“We’re just focusing on Tonga just now and trying to start the game really well.”
Townsend sure Scotland have more to show after superb win over Australia
Gregor Townsend insists Scotland can still play better despite ending their 2024 calendar on the high of an impressive 27-13 win over Australia at Murrayfield.
Finn Russell surpassed 400 Test points after scoring one of four Scotland tries and kicking seven points in a game where Scotland led by 21 points at one stage.
Head coach Townsend was delighted to send supporters home happy but was not happy with all aspects of his side's performance on Sunday.
"If you catch me in 10 minutes I'll be in a better mood. There was more in us. We weren't as accurate in the first half," he told BBC Sport.
"It shows we can get a win when we're not playing as well. There were moments in the game that I loved. We saw what it meant to our supporters to get a win against a quality team.
"We're better than some of the aspects today, but I'm proud that the players found a way to win.
"I'm inwardly happy, but if there was a game next week it would be a tough review and there would be a lot of things to improve."
Captain Sione Tuipulotu crossed in the first half for Scotland, who led 7-3 at the break after Noah Lolesio's had put Australia in front.
The hosts took command after the break with Duhan van der Merwe, Josh Bayliss and Russell going over in the second half.
Wing wizard Harry Potter scored on his Australia debut to add some credit to the scoreline for the visitors and Scotland showed great defensive resolve after that to ensure no more points were conceded.
Skipper Tuipulotu collected the Hopetoun Cup in front of his grandmother and said: "It was an amazing moment. When she handed over the cup she said 'you got 'em!'
"I'm super happy and it makes the day all worthwhile, when we win like that. We won playing our rugby, we scored some brilliant tries. We know how dangerous our back three is but it was a group effort today and that's what I'm most pleased about."
Robertson makes overseas players plea after New Zealand labour versus Italy
New Zealand head coach Scott Robertson has said he wants to see overseas-based players become eligible for the All Blacks after his side laboured to a 29-11 win over Italy.
The visitors recorded their 18th straight win against Italy to wrap up their autumn series, but Robertson's side were made to work for the victory in Turin in flanker Sam Cane's final Test for the team, ahead of his switch to play club rugby in Japan.
Speaking after the game, Robertson said he would ask New Zealand Rugby to follow in the footsteps of world champions South Africa and allow those playing outside domestic competitions to be eligible for the national team.
"We don't want to be a cycle behind or a couple of years behind," Robertson said.
"Professional rugby is always evolving. Let's keep an open mind and see what's next. I'll definitely be presenting.
"Using South Africa as an example, they get the opportunity to use a lot of experienced players who are looked after and managed well into their 30s so they've got a great balance.
"And they've got big squads, they can have two really quality 15s."
Gatland future up in the air after Wales suffer 12th consecutive loss
Wales head coach Warren Gatland did not have answers about his future following their 45-12 defeat to South Africa, their 12th consecutive loss.
The Springboks dominated from the off and were cruising 26-0 just before half-time, after Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Elrigh Louw crossed.
Rio Dyer's try before the break ensured Wales did not draw a blank in the first half, but South Africa did not let up as Aphelele Fassi, Gerhard Steenenkamp and Jordan Hendrikse all followed suit.
James Botham's late effort ensured Wales did not suffer their worst-ever home defeat, but they have now gone an entire calendar year without a win for the first time since 1937.
Gatland has come under increasing pressure as the losses pile up, and though his future remains up in the air, he was proud of how his inexperienced side held up against the world champions.
"It's about seeing what the Welsh Rugby Union has to say," he told TNT Sports when asked about his future.
"You don't make a decision straight after a game, it's always tough coming to a press conference straight after a game before you've had time to catch your breath and look at some of the stats and numbers.
"Let's just see what happens over the next few days."
On their recent run of form, he added: "We punched massively above our weight for a number of years, and we've been saying that when the dam bursts it's going to take a little bit of time to put things right.
"The dam has burst, but it's about making sure that, collectively, with the regions we work together.
"I think we need to be in better shape in a conditioning point of view. We will work on that with some of the players over the next couple of months, so when they turn up for the Six Nations, they're ready to go from day one."
South Africa have won each of their last three Tests, building on their wins over Scotland and England earlier in the series.
Captain Siya Kolisi was pleased with their ruthlessness in the game but also sympathised with Gatland's situation.
"It's been a really good tour," he told TNT Sports. "It hasn't been perfect, the first two games we weren't happy - happy we won, but there was so much we could have done better.
"The results are important, but it's how you do things, the standards we set for ourselves. We know we can do a little bit better as a group.
"We were where Wales are a couple of years ago.
"The only thing I can say is you just can't stop believing. If you look at their starting backline, one of our guys had more caps than all of them. You have to be realistic about these things."
Elsewhere, Ireland produced their most convincing win of their series, scoring eight tries as they cruised past Fiji 52-17 in Dublin earlier on Saturday.
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