IF there was one big lesson to take home from the Rugby World Cup, it was that scrums still win matches. After all, not many people had given South Africa much of a chance in the final but their scrum turned expectations on their head and produced the ticket to the gold medal.
It was joyful watching for Zander Fagerson, who is always happy to knuckle down to the nitty-gritty of the set-piece. And the Scotland prop reckons he and his Glasgow chums can turn the tables in a similar way when they take on Sale Sharks from the English Premiership in the Heineken Champions Cup tomorrow.
"Scrummaging is always a battle and Premiership teams think they can get one over us," he said.
"Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to play and it will be a good set-piece battle.
"I remember when we played Leicester a few years ago. Some of them were giving it big licks in the press but it was a good game.
"We matched them physically and I don’t really think they had a plan B.
"There will always be a tough battle against Prem teams and French teams as well. I'm looking forward to it."
Fagerson has come back from the World Cup with something to prove, as he showed in Italy last weekend when he was one of the few to relish the muddy conditions and the intense forward battle that resulted.
Officially he has been credited with 17 carries and seven tackles on top of his scrum duties – there were 12 in the game with all bar one of the scrum penalties going to Glasgow – so he was certainly busy enough.
"It was awesome. I really loved it. It was like being back at Under-16 rugby – a marshy pitch and a real forwards game. I really enjoyed it," he said.
"I’m just getting back and enjoying my rugby. Ball carrying is a part of my game I really enjoy and it helps the team, so I’ll do as much as I can.
"If you don’t get 100% scrum ball you can’t really play off it – that World Cup final completely proved that.
"It’s great to see free-flowing rugby but it [scrummaging] is a dark art, something I really love doing.
"I’m glad it’s front and centre of rugby again."
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