IN years to come, the moment where Stuart McInally cemented his credentials as the man in pole position to lead Scotland at the Rugby World Cup will be talked about in hushed tones.
It came at Twickenham. Scotland were 31-0 down after 34 minutes having conceded four converted tries and a penalty and were staring down the barrel of a thrashing. Then skipper McInally charged down an Owen Farrell kick, ran in the try from half way and momentum swung 180 degrees.
"That was certainly the biggest challenge I have had as a leader," he admits now. "Being under your sticks four times away from home doesn’t happen often in an international but it happened in that first half.
"It was fairly calm, we were saying the right things but the frustrating thing was that it was not leading to better actions. England seemed to be playing so well and there seemed to be no stopping them. It was just one-way traffic.
"We had a goal in that game to get forward on Farrell. I found myself in front of him and tried to get forward. I was too close for him to kick, I don’t know why he kicked it, but I got the charge down and was just trying to run as far as I could before I got tackled."
READ MORE: Rugby World Cup 2019: Fixtures, kick-off times and TV schedule
It sparked that dramatic second-half comeback ending in the frustration of a 38-38 draw that meant he got to go up and be presented with the Calcutta Cup, certainly his finest hour as a leader.
As a result, he has been handed the first chance to lead the team in the pre-World Cup warm-up matches, a clear signal, you would think, that the job is his to lose.
That despite a crop of men around him who have captained Scotland before him. As he pointed out John Barclay was captain early in his career, Greig Laidlaw led the team in the last World Cup, Grant Gilchrist led the side under Vern Cotter and captained McInally at club level.
One thing is certain, barring injury McInally, routinely described as one of the best hookers in the world by Richard Cockerill, his club coach at Edinburgh, will go to the World Cup in some capacity, burying memories of four years ago when he was named in the squad only to drop out with a neck injury.
"I was gutted. James [Robson, the team doctor] phoned me and told me the scan results weren’t good and I’d be out for four months between the leaving dinner and departing," he recalled.
"That was tough, I remember being very upset. I was going through all the emotions, training so hard and then getting my first cap against Italy. I’d just started a game, then named in the squad, and after all that being told I was out for four months, it was pretty upsetting.
"I feel I am a totally different player now. Looking back, I’d only got two caps going into that World Cup. Now I’ve played a lot more. I feel way more comfortable in the No.2 role and I’m better placed to play in a World Cup than I would have been four years ago."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here