LAID up with a broken leg while trying to look after his pregnant wife and with two dogs nagging to be taken out? The last few months have been a testing time for Zander Fagerson, the Glasgow Warriors prop, but it has also given him a new appetite for his sport while bringing a fresh life perspective.
After the surreal events of last weekend, for which he got a ringside seat as one of the travelling reserves at Twickenham as England and Scotland drew 38-38, it's back to club action with Glasgow Warriors and he is raring to go.
The club are trying to cement their place as Guinness PRO14 conference leaders before taking on many of the players who were in last weekend's England team with the Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final trip to Saracens.
"The boys put in really awesome performance in during the second half. I’m really proud of them but my focus is on getting back playing for Glasgow." Fagerson said. "I’m fresh to death. I feel like I’m 12 again. All the boys are looking at me saying: what’s going on?
"It’s a busy business end of the season. There are some big games coming up, hopefully I’ll be involved in as many as possible. Getting my head away from rugby has made me really want to come back. The ankle has been sweet, it took a bit of time to come around, but it seems to have – touch wood – settled down now. So I feel great."
Which is all a huge contrast to the mood last year when he snapped his leg in a freak collision against the Cheetahs in South Africa – coincidentally Glasgow's opponents again this weekend – and found himself facing an extended lay-off.
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"I’ll put that behind me now and hopefully for me and my wife’s sake I'll get an injury-free run. She must be fed up with me. At the start, I was pretty down but I’ve got bigger things to think about now, I’m having a kid soon which puts things into perspective. That life balance is going to really do me well, I think,” he said
"It was tough. She was suffering from morning sickness, not feeling great; I was on crutches or in my mobility scooter so I could get the groceries but I couldn’t really do much else. We’ve two little dogs who were going nuts as well.
“We had some tough days, but it puts everything perspective. I’m not just playing for me anymore. Rugby is my job and I absolutely love it to bits, but its not the be-all and end-all, life goes on."
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