Home is where the heart is for Scott

Senior Sports Writer

Thursday 11 October 2012

Having made his first Test starts for Scotland in the summer before returning home to pick up his law degree, all the evidence suggests that Matt Scott's future is rather more secure than that of most lads his age.

Matt Scott has just signed a new, enhanced contract with Edinburgh. Picture: Getty Images

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Kevin Ferrie

The Scotland centre and Edinburgh University law graduate turned 22 less than a fortnight ago and is hugely appreciative of the turn of events that has allowed him to sign a new, enhanced contract for the second time in six months, this one keeping him at Edinburgh for the next three years.

It is a measure of the astonishing progress the youngster has made since being overlooked in favour of London Irish player Steve Shingler for this year's Six Nations Championship development squad that he has now been granted two significant pay rises in rapid succession.Scott won his first cap when called into the squad for the meeting with Ireland while still on an apprentice contract and, having become a key figure in the Edinburgh team that made history by reaching the Heineken Cup semi-finals, earned three more on Scotland's summer tour, where he was regarded by those who made the trip as the best back afield as the victory against Samoa completed the much-needed clean sweep of wins.He was diplomatic when asked who had initiated the latest pay talks, then, but it seems clear that the days of him being under-valued are over and the Currie RFC product is delighted to have job security in his home city. "I don't really get involved in a lot of the off-the-field stuff, I leave that to my agent, but it was great that the club were willing to negotiate, as well," he said."It's indicative of what the club's doing at the moment. I think we've got a good group of young players coming through. We've got a coach and a captain who are intent on winning trophies which is where you want to be as a player, so I think there's no reason for me to be anywhere else between now and the next World Cup."For someone my age, I don't think it would be the best move to go away and possibly get lost in the English Premiership or France or something. I've had a few caps, but I'm not an established 40/50 cap player and I'm learning all the time at Edinburgh and I'm playing with my potential international team-mates week-in, week-out, which helps a lot, so I think it's the best place for me to be these next couple of years."A stand-off with Currie, Scott has bulked up considerably in switching to midfield and comes across as an astute lad both on and off the field, and one who is genuinely grateful for the good fortune that his talent has helped bring him. "Obviously, now that the degree's done I'm completely focused on my rugby," said Scott. "It sounds silly but a lot of my peers who I did law with haven't found jobs in law yet, so they say I'm lucky to have this and I do feel really lucky. To be playing rugby for a living is extremely fortunate, but it's a short career, as well, so you need to try to make the most out of it, but to have a guaranteed income for the next two or three years is not something to be shrugged at in this financial climate."Some of my peers are in retail jobs and a few of them have gone travelling. They thought it was a good time to do that and come back hopefully when there's more jobs available. A lot of them are doing the conversion into English law to go down into London, so it's quite a mix. Probably half of them have a traineeship or a diploma lined up here and are just carrying on doing that, so they've still got a lot of studying to do. I'm glad not to have that burden on me this year."For Scott, the perks of the job also include the opportunity to see the world at someone else's expense, but that does not come without pressures of its own, as in preparing for Saturday's Heineken Cup meeting with Saracens, he noted: "It's not a jolly, at all, it's a high-pressure job, the same as any other. I am very lucky to be doing what I'm doing, playing professional rugby for a career but we all take it very seriously, especially coming up to big games like this when everyone's pretty switched on. We are very fortunate in getting to travel the world, but obviously we can't sit on the beach drinking beer all day, we've got a job to do."With greater rewards comes greater responsibility, then and he is ready to take that on. "I thought I was a wee fish in a big pond last year and I think maybe some of the other young guys did, as well, but I'm hoping I can assert myself and make a bigger impact than I did last year," said Scott. "Being an international player now, I've got to think of myself in that way and stand up and be a leader on the pitch with attack, defence and everything. "I was part of that Heineken Cup run last year and there will be guys coming in this year who haven't been to the knockout stages, so I'm definitely looking to assert myself and bring what I've learned over the last six months to the campaign.He knows that collective expectations have changed but welcomes that, too. "I suppose there was maybe slightly less pressure on us last year, but we're happy to have Saracens at home first," he said. "I'd rather have them at home first than away. We're looking at this campaign in a positive light, we're not looking at losing any games, we want to win every game, so it doesn't really matter. Saracens at home first is a great opportunity for us to put a marker down so we're just thinking about winning."

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Home is where the heart is for Scott

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