JONNY GRAY strolls into the room, his 6ft 6 frame hunched as if he is to face a rampaging pack of forwards on some hostile foreign field rather than a roomful of journalists in a Murrayfield conference room.
He has a black eye. After eight minutes of chat in which the lock forward only basically offers up his name, rank and number, Gray leaves the room to the unspoken thought that the injury must have been sustained in an earlier more robust, if similarly, unsuccessful interrogation.
Gray, it seems, approaches press conferences the way he treats matches. He deals with them seriously, he is determined not to make a mistake and they are regarded, frankly, as hard work.
This is an observation rather than a criticism. There must be different skills for different tasks and it is surely unrealistic to expect a young rugby player to have the eloquence of a practised speaker.
After all, Churchill was a great orator but one does not envy the prop that had to lift him to win vital lineout ball in the last five minutes of a match at Twickenham.
Gray is just 20 and he is not obstructive or impolite, merely shy. He has grasped early that his deeds are more important than his words. He could, just could be the next big thing in rugby. He has shot through the ranks with a briskness that is almost rude. Already he has been named in a RBS 6 Nations team of the week for his performance in the defeat to France and picked out as the possible breakthrough player by ESPN at the World Cup later this year.
He will, of course, talk about none of this but those who know him are only too pleased to do so. Rugby players and coaches like Big Jonny. More pertinently, they respect him too.
Vern Cotter, the Scotland head coach, watched him and immediately promoted him, saying: "Jonny just loves playing rugby."
Gregor Townsend, his coach at Glasgow Warriors, did not hesitate yesterday when asked for his opinion on his lock.
"It is about his work. He came into to our development squad as an 18-year-old and was someone who was always on the field after training, always thirsty for more. But he works so hard on the field too, topping the tackle counts, topping the ruck clears. If you have that base in the game, that growth mindset, and that capacity for work then the rewards will come."
The most telling testimony comes when Townsend is asked Gray as a rugby student.
"Those are the players you want to work with most, those who are thirsty for knowledge, will work hard for the team. He is very, very humble. He will win awards at games and he will say: 'What is the next job and how do I get better?"
Townsend points out that a valid definition of a great player is how they respond when put into a higher level. Gray played for the Scotland under 20s at 18 years of age, moved swiftly into the Warriors first team and now, a month before his 21st birthday, he is contemplating his 10th cap for Scotland.
"He does not survive, he thrives," he said of Gray's reaction to advancing to a more elite stage. Gray, quietly, relishes the burden of command, happy to call the lineouts against such as New Zealand.
He is, of course, the brother of Richie who at 25 has become a British Lion and a Scotland regular. It was, though, Jonny who introduced his older brother to the game with trips to Cambuslang rugby club followed by games at Kelvinside Academy.
The younger brother maintains an earnest attitude, bordering on reverence, about his sibling. The only moment in a press conference when he relaxes slightly is when he talks of how he has developed as a player.
" I've been very lucky to have Rich, to see first-hand how hard he had to work to get where he is," he says of the fellow lock now playing at Castres.
'His diet, his extras, his training. For me to see that first-hand, there were no excuses for me. And he's the same here, still out doing his extras, still out there working hard. So that's a great example and to have someone like that around is amazing."
At 6ft 10, Richie stands above his brother in height and he has experience that Jonny has yet to sample. But the younger Gray is almost appalled when it is suggested that he may be making a bid to be the best player in the family.
'No. I think Rich is a top-class player. I'm always learning from him," he said. 'Rich, for me, is the biggest role model I've had growing up."
Jonny, too, is a role model in a wider sense. He has come through the Scottish rugby system, showing there is a pathway to the top for young, dedicated talent. He also benefited from the opportunity to be mentored by All Black Reubene Thorne, when in New Zealand last year under the John Macphail scholarship.
The progress of the Grays, Finn Russell, Mark Bennett, Alex Dunbar and others shows that there is a generation of players nurtured in Scotland, though fully formed by international experience.
The best of them all might be Jonny Gray. You will be hearing and a lot more about him. Just do not expect it to be from the man himself.
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