Scotland rookie reflects on ‘pretty surreal’ season for club and country

Rookie Scotland second-row Max Williamson is determined to finish off his debut season as a professional rugby player by helping his country seal a clean sweep of victories on their summer tour.

The past eight months have been a whirlwind period for the 21-year-old as he made his club debut for Glasgow Warriors last November and was part of their victorious United Rugby Championship campaign and his fine form was rewarded with a call-up to Scotland’s squad for their tour of the Americas.

Williamson has been involved in all the tour matches after making his Test bow as a starter against Canada before coming off the bench against the USA and Chile and is now set to start again in Saturday’s clash with Uruguay in Montevideo.

‘It’s been quite a journey’

“It’s been pretty surreal,” he said. “From making my Glasgow debut earlier this season to where I am now, it’s been quite a journey for me. I’ve loved all of it so far.

“I didn’t see any of this coming to be honest, I’d been quite big on just taking it one week at a time because you never really know what’s going to happen. I’d have laughed at you if you told me at the start of the season everything that was going to happen.”

Williamson has made tremendous strides at Glasgow and admitted that it’s helped that he has been playing alongside experienced international locks like Richie Gray and Scott Cummings at club level.

“It’s brilliant to have both of them,” he said. “Richie’s done pretty much everything in the game and his knowledge and the calmness he brings really helps me.

Huw Jones set for milestone game as Scotland announce team for tour finale against Uruguay

“I learn a lot of detail off Scott, he’s been great with me, looking at my performances and helping me kick on. Both of them together, I couldn’t really ask for much better role models.”

Wary of Uruguay

Scotland‘s tour has been a real success – after notching high-scoring wins in their previous Tests – but head coach Gregor Townsend is wary of this weekend’s challenge against Uruguay.

“We did anticipate Uruguay being the toughest opponent on this tour and we probably still do despite their heavy defeat against Argentina last week,” he said.

“They were the strongest team when we were coming into this tour because of what they did in the World Cup and also because of the games they were going to get prior to playing us, against France and Argentina, so they would be better prepared for playing Test teams.

“Obviously they didn’t perform that well at the weekend but that could make it a little bit tougher for us because we know we’ll get a reaction from them.

“We’ve got to look at what they did in the World Cup, when they pushed France close, when they were leading against Italy going into the final quarter of the game, and when they played France recently and had opportunities to be ahead in the game, so we’re expecting a real physical team.”

READ MORE: Huw Jones ‘super proud’ of Scotland milestone as setbacks make him ‘appreciate it a lot more’