Ryder not one to take it easy after debut

Tuesday 19 June 2012

AFTER becoming the latest member of the Glasgow pack to earn international recognition, Tom Ryder is aware that impressing for his club can translate into a long Scotland career, one which he hopes will not be limited to a cameo appearance against Fiji.

Tom Ryder was rewarded for his form with Glasgow Warriors by earning his first Scotland cap against Fiji. Picture: SNS

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Stuart McAllister

"It is a question of making sure that I am playing well for Glasgow so that I can keep myself in contention for selection for Scotland," he said. "I do not intend this cap to be the one. I want to be playing rugby for Scotland. I want to put myself forward to play, but the only way to do that is to play well when you get the chance and to play well when you get back home and are playing for your club."

Ryder and the rest of the Scotland team were afforded a relaxing day in Apia, the capital of Samoa, yesterday after an exhausting match in the searing heat of Fiji at the weekend. They had earlier boarded an overnight flight, that left them feeling both physically and mentally drained.Despite all that, Nottingham-born Ryder was still in a mood to celebrate, his cap fully vindicating his decision to gamble on a move north to Glasgow, where his father Paul was born, to throw in his lot with Scotland. He knew the competition was intense, with Al Kellock and Richie Gray already at Glasgow while the likes of Jim Hamilton also stood between him and a full Scotland cap. He would likely still be waiting if the last of that trio had not had a sudden rush of blood to the head in the last club game of the season and copped himself a ban that put him out of the tour.Not that his misfortune was of any concern to Ryder, or his family glued to the television screen back in the UK waiting for the moment when he would finally cross the touchline and get his inaugural cap. "I have had a lot of text messages and stuff from back home," he said. "My mum and dad stayed up and watched it. They said it was like watching rugby 30 years ago in terms of the picture quality but they did see me get on the pitch and were delighted. It has all been good."This was one of the main reasons I came up to Scotland. I wanted to try to break into the Scotland team and, luckily, I have been given an opportunity. Now it is just a question of making sure that I take the chances I am given and stay there."He is likely to be returned to the bench when the team to face Samoa is announced later today, but with all the expectations being that the temperatures in Samoa will soar even higher than they did in Fiji, it seems likely that the replacements will have to be used earlier, however determined Andy Robinson, the head coach, is not to disrupt the team."I hope I will be involved in the Samoa game," said Ryder. "After that, it is a question of making sure that I am playing well for Glasgow so that I can keep myself in contention for selection for Scotland. At Glasgow, there is a lot of competition, Tim Swinson is being brought in and there are young lads coming through. The development of a squad, making sure that we do well and, as a team, start to win things is important. On the back of that, it would help everybody to progress the more we win."So, while the tour will have had implications for Ryder and his immediate future, it seems that Glasgow will be the next beneficiary as he puts even more effort into making sure that events this week are the start of something special. Sometimes one is just not enough; especially when you are talking about international caps.

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Ryder not one to take it easy after debut

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