KEVIN Bryce is pleased with the progress he has made so far since switching from hooker to tighthead prop, but has insisted that the Autumn Tests will come far too soon for him to be included in the Scotland squad.
The 28-year-old, who moved from Glasgow Warriors to Edinburgh in the summer, revealed yesterday that he thought Vern Cotter was pulling his leg when the national coach first proposed the change of position. Eventually, however, he realised that Cotter was being serious, and that the move was a coherent plan by Scottish Rugby to reinforce a position in which there is not enough competition at present.
“It's definitely a massive vote of confidence for them to say to me to move to tighthead rather than me going to them,” Bryce said. “It was Vern who approached me.
“He made a few passing comments during the World Cup and I thought he was taking the mick. Then after about the third time I pulled him up on it and was like
“Look, mate, what's going on here?” And he took me aside and had a proper chat with me about it. He said there could be a chance for me as there wasn't a whole lot of strength in depth at tighthead.”
Bryce won three caps as a hooker, two as a replacement in 2014 and then another, also off the bench, at the World Cup. But he only got in the squad for that tournament as a result of injury to Stuart McInally, and played fewer minutes than any other Scotland player.
He is keenly aware that winning more caps in his new position will be far from automatic: WP Nel is firmly established as the country’s leading tighthead, and Zander Fagerson, still only 20, promised to be around for some time to come. And, while it may be natural to dream of a return to the national side, he knows he needs to accrue a substantial amount of match-time experience with Edinburgh before he can even harbour realistic hopes of a recall.
Having only made his debut as a tighthead last week - again off the bench, against Leinster - Bryce is certain that he will have no involvement in the November internationals against Australia, Argentina and Georgia. “There's no chance of being involved in the Autumn Tests,” he said. “Vern hasn't said anything to me.
“The aim for every player is to make the national set-up, but right now I'm fully focused on Edinburgh and I've got a lot to learn. I just need to keep racking up the minutes for Edinburgh. If I ever get the chance to get back in the national set-up as tighthead then I'll grasp it with both hands.
“I was told [the switch] would be a long process, and I knew that myself. I was aware the task I was taking on was a monumental task. It's not as easy as maybe making the switch from 7 to 2 was” - he began as an openside before moving to hooker - “although you had to learn to throw a ball in. Scrummaging is a massive technical part of the game at tighthead, so I knew what I was getting into.
“I thought hooker was tough and you had a lot of pressure coming through you, but now being tighthead it's like being a hooker is sitting in an armchair. No disrespect to hookers. But honestly, you have two people attacking you and there's a lot more pressure."
Last week Bryce acquitted himself well against Cian Healy, a British and Irish Lion, in his cameo appearance. He expects that for the time being he will be restricted to making other appearances off the bench, but believes he is ready if called on to plat a whole game.
“ I was chuffed to bits to get on the pitch with the boys and get a run about for 15 minutes. Personally I thought the scrummaging went well. Before I came on the scrum was dominant and I just tried to carry that on again, win the battle on the hit. It's things like that I need to keep working on.
“If I got to start, if WP was injured or something, then I'd like to think I could manage it. There are other tightheads in the squad as well, so I can't assume I'm going to start if WP is unavailable. But I need to be ready in my head mentally to play the full 80.”
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