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.”

Stuart McInally revealed he has gone through “a whirlwind of emotions” in recent months after he finally got the call to join Scotland’s World Cup squad for a fairy-tale career swansong.

The 33-year-old hooker was officially added to Gregor Townsend’s 33-man squad this week after his long-time Edinburgh club-mate Dave Cherry suffered concussion when slipping on stairs at the team hotel near Nice on Monday, the day after the Scots’ defeat by South Africa.

McInally announced in April that he would be retiring from rugby after the World Cup to pursue a new career as an airline pilot, and his dream of bowing out of the sport on the biggest stage of all looked on course when he was named in the provisional 41-man training squad.

But just days after coming on to win his 49th cap for Scotland away to France last month, McInally received a call from head coach Townsend to inform him he was not in the final 33-man squad, effectively putting him into retirement.

McInally was given some hope when he was called out to France last week as cover after Ewan Ashman suffered concussion and then after flying home to Edinburgh on Monday, he got the call on Wednesday morning to say he was required for duty once more following Cherry’s accident.

“It’s been a whirlwind of emotions,” he said, reflecting on his remarkable return to the fold at the team’s training ground in Nice on Friday. “I was named in the original 41, I was really excited, then to find out I wasn’t going, the emotions took a bit of a hit there, I was very disappointed.

“Then I was out here for injury cover, but I wasn’t allowed to train. I still felt part of it, but I wasn’t really part of it. Then when I found out I was officially joining the 33, I was over the moon. The story continues.

“It’s lucky I like flying as I’ve been back and forth, clocking up the air miles. I didn’t mind it, it’s always been for a reason and it’s not like we’re in Japan like last time. It’s a two-hour flight.

“I got the call to come back on Wednesday. It was a case of pack my bags and getting straight back out here. Luckily I hadn’t unpacked, I’m quite slow with the unpacking!”

McInally was gutted not to be named in the original squad in August.

“The hooker position is so competitive so I never took anything for granted,” he said. “I thought I had a good chance but ultimately they went a different way and I respected that and had a good chat with Gregor. I moved on, but that’s all in the past now.”

McInally insisted there was never any danger of him going into retirement mode after his initial snub as his professional mentality ensured he kept himself in shape in case an opportunity arose belatedly.

“I had always been very clear that I’d be starting my new career in November and that would be after the World Cup,” he said.

“I can see why people would think it would be hard to stay focused (on rugby), but for me it was quite easy as I always knew this could happen and as long as it could happen, I was going to make sure I was in a good position to take the chance if it came.
 
“I would have kicked myself if this situation had arisen and I hadn’t looked after myself.

“People said ‘you might get a call, I can see it happening’, but you never really believe it. But it was very easy for me to keep fit because I knew that even if I had been called up much further down the line, maybe a quarter-final or something and I hadn’t stayed fit and they needed me, then I would never have been able to forgive myself. That’s just me being me.

“I have been running and doing my weights on my own to make sure I stayed sharp.

“I made sure I spoke to the conditioners here and they gave me running sessions and weights to do. I’ve got a gym in the house and a running pitch two minutes from my house so I could do very specific rugby sessions.

“After 13 years in rugby I know the sessions I need to do to stay in shape so I put myself through my paces. It was all for a good reason.”

McInally, who captained Scotland at the last World Cup in Japan, knows he now has the chance to notch his 50th cap before he retires.

“A lot of people are talking about it (the possibility of a 50th cap) and I’ve had a lot of love from back home about that,” he said. “I’m trying not to think about it because until you’re actually named in a 23 and take to the pitch, anything can happen.

“It’s so exciting, and knowing that it’s my last throw of the dice as well, I’m determined to give my best.

“What would make it really special would be if we went on and did something special and got out of the group and challenged for quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final.

“That’s what we’re here for. It’s great to be here, but we’re just focused on playing our best and trying to get out of the group.”

McInally had sympathy for 32-year-old Cherry, who had made his first-ever appearance at a World Cup the day before his accident.

“It was hugely disappointing for him,” he said. “I spoke to him before he left and he was obviously very gutted. It is just one of those things and I feel really sorry for him.”

Stuart McInally has been added to Scotland’s World Cup squad after his fellow Edinburgh hooker Dave Cherry suffered a concussion in an accident at the team hotel on Monday.

The 32-year-old slipped down stairs at the team hotel on a day off and hurt his head. He is now following return-to-play protocols, rendering him unavailable for at least the next 12 days.

The decision was therefore taken to end Cherry’s involvement at his first World Cup on medical grounds.

The situation has allowed McInally a remarkable and unexpected career swansong. The 33-year-old announced earlier this summer that he would be retiring following this World Cup but after being part of the provisional training group throughout the build-up, he was omitted when Gregor Townsend named his final 33-man squad last month.

McInally, who captained Scotland into the last World Cup in Japan, arrived in France last week as a standby following a concussion sustained by Ewan Ashman.

However, he has now been officially drafted in to the squad to replace Cherry, who featured as a second-half replacement in Sunday’s 18-3 defeat by South Africa.

Cherry told Scottish Rugby: “I’m hugely disappointed to be leaving the squad with concussion. I’ve loved my time in camp over the summer and gaining my first World Cup cap on Sunday.

“I want to wish the team all the best for the remainder of the competition.”

Ashman is continuing his return-to-play protocols and is currently on track to be available for selection for next Sunday’s match against Tonga in Nice.

Stuart McInally’s rugby career is over after the long-serving Edinburgh hooker was one of four players cut from Scotland’s 33-man World Cup squad.

The 33-year-old, who captained the national team at Japan 2019, announced at the end of last season that he would retire after this autumn’s showpiece in France to become an airplane pilot but, after being part of the training squad this summer, he has not made the final selection.

Scrum-half Jamie Dobie, tighthead prop Murphy Walker and back-row Josh Bayliss are the other three players who have been released from the squad.

The omission of the latter trio was not a major surprise given they have only accumulated 10 caps between them so far.

McInally won his 49th and final cap in last Saturday’s 30-27 defeat by France in Saint-Etienne.

First-choice number nine Ben White is in the squad, indicating that he has been given the all-clear after seeing a specialist this week about the ankle injury that forced him off against France a week past Saturday.

Fourteen of the 33 players Gregor Townsend has selected were also in his squad for the last World Cup, while four of them – Grant Gilchrist, WP Nel, Richie Gray and Finn Russell – will be going to the tournament for a third time.