Last week, we caught up with injured winger Nick Scott at The Lensbury in between his busy Rehabilitation programme as we battle his way back to full fitness. Scott is struggling with an ankle problem and a bursar in his knee which has become inflamed.
“The injury is not anything serious luckily, touch wood I will be back for the Rotherham game and if not I will be working very hard to get fit for the Derby clash against Richmond.”
Scott joined the Scots this summer from Sale Sharks and boasts plenty of Aviva Premiership experience having appeared as well for Bath and London Welsh. Asking Scott if he gets any stick from old teammates for swapping alliances from London Welsh to London Scottish, he chuckles as he states, “there has always been movement between the London clubs but it was sad to see one of my previous clubs go into liquidation, nobody ever wants to see that.”
After a supremely successful eight years plying his trade at various rugby clubs, Scott is now looking to combine his top level rugby with work in the city.
“I’m transitioning into life after rugby really, that was a big attraction for joining London Scottish. They (London Scottish) are trying to go down a new part-time route and help the transition for players into the working world, which is something quite difficult, especially for me who is looking for something quite refined.”
Scott spoke very highly of the people behind the scenes at Scottish who are helping him in his quest for full time employment.
“Angus Stewart is a fantastic man, he has helped me and other players immensely in the job hunt. He has been trying to put me in touch with companies who may be interested in hiring an ex-sportsman. I have done some work experience all over London. I have been into Colliers International who specialise in commercial property and I also went to Gibson’s who are a shipbroker, so I have been very lucky to get an insight into these companies.”
Ben Mosses recently accompanied Nick as they went in for a day at Investec and explored a few departments and got an understanding for the company, another link Angus Stewart had forged and an avenue Scott would like to explore further.
Scott was very positive in the model that Scottish has adopted and thinks it can attract other Premiership players who are looking to transition into working life.
Nick Scott is currently looking for a sponsor. If you would like to sponsor Nick please email Scott.Cherry@londonscottish.com or call 02033979551
“It’s a great option for London Scottish moving forward. It’s a real USP for the club, offering the opportunity to play in the Championship whilst merging into life after rugby. Players will also be attracted come down from Scotland like Fraser (Lyle)”
Scott continued as he jibed a subtle dig at rivals Richmond who also have a part-time set up. “Richmond are the only other team at this level who cater for part time players but they will always be on the cusp of National One, albeit they have had a very successful start to this season but Scottish are an established Championship side with a cracking history and supporter base.”
Although Scott has played in the Premiership, he spoke very highly of the standard of rugby in the Championship.
“The Premiership is one more step up, especially in physicality and skill but I feel like the Championship is not given enough credit. When a team is relegated down from the Premiership, they are not given the credit they deserve when they go away to teams like Cornish Pirates or Jersey and win, they will only be scrutinised if they lose going to those places and winning is tough!”
“In the Premiership there are International superstars who can win you a game single-handedly, look at Rokoduguni, he’s outrageous. I liked testing myself against those players, it’s an unreal experience.”
If you can help London Scottish players at any level of the club with work experience, a full or part time job that can accommodate their rugby or if you or your company would like to be The Careers Team sponsor, please contact Angus Stewart 07973 563 802 angus.a.stewart@icloud.com. Our goal is to offer every London Scottish player career advice and assistance.
Scott digressed in the interview as he sat back and recounted a time he was up against Christian Wade and Tom Varndell when they were both playing at Wasps, “you had to be on the money every time, if you were off the pace mentally or positionally that can make you look like an idiot, those boys are fast!”
Looking forward to this season Nick’s prime focus was obviously to get back fit and regain his starting spot in the side but further down the line he said he “wanted a team that played a good brand of rugby which is what we are trying to do here at Scottish”.
He continued as he analysed Scottish’s struggles so far this season, “this season we have been underwhelming, we are a much better side than where we are in the league. We have the responsibility to put on a good performance for those supporters who come down to watch us on the weekend.”
Scott was confident that the Scots can turn their fortunes around “we are playing good rugby we just need to be more clinical but I fully expect us to secure some bonus point wins over the coming weeks, we haven’t been getting the rub of the green in some of the matches”.
Nick, despite his injury and the recent bad run of results, was very positive, he spoke highly of the coaching staff and said that a good culture was building amongst the squad. He said it helped known people like Jon Mills and Ben Mosses when he joined the club but he summarised rugby environments succinctly, “we are all like-minded guys, we all have similar aims so integrating into this new environment was easy for me and I think as we continue to grow as a group, the results will start to follow.”
