THE HERALD REPORTS

Deans believes Thomson should target Lions berth

KEVIN FERRIE, Chief Rugby Writer October 29 2008
Fergus Thomson may have started just one Test among his eight caps and been sidelined throughout this season, but according to his new mentor, the Glasgow Warriors hooker should still be aiming to be on next summer's British & Irish Lions tour.

The 24-year-old, who also captained Scotland A in this summer's Churchill Cup, has been partnered with Colin Deans, one of the greatest players in the history of Scottish rugby, under the Winning Scotland Foundation's new mentor programme.

To date they have had just one meaningful conversation but it seems they are on exactly the same wavelength. Deans, who captained the Lions as well as Scotland during a magnificent career, was still coaching on a consultancy basis at professional level with Northampton Saints until a few years ago so believes he is among those who can still contribute on the technical side.

However, what Winning Mentors is principally about is providing promising players with role models they can converse with and learn from. In motivational terms Deans' challenge to Thomson that he should see himself as good enough to make it on to the Lions tour is exactly what those backing the programme were hoping for.

They would be pleased with the response, too, from a man who is hoping to have recovered sufficiently from recent shoulder surgery to face Cardiff Blues in the Warriors' next Magners League match on November 28.

"Certainly, as an aspiring professional player that's what I want to be aiming for," said Thomson. First and foremost it's just getting fit and trying to get back into a starting slot at Glasgow because obviously Dougie Hall's there and the competition's steep so that's my initial aim.

"Hopefully if I can get that I can get myself up for selection for the Six Nations and see how it goes from there."

From that perspective his timing could work out perfectly since, if the mechanics are all working properly again, he will be among those most ready to catch the eye of the Lions selectors in the early part of next year.

That, too, is about seeing the positive to come out of a negative experience and Thomson is very much of that mindset.

"It is disappointing being injured, but the rest of my body's getting a good rest and I'm getting a good extended off season. So hopefully that will mean I'm fresher and can hit the ground running when I come back," he said.

As to working with Deans, Thomson may only have been three years old when the great man played his last Test for Scotland at the first World Cup in 1987, but he is well aware of the opportunity he has been given.

"I'm looking forward to getting to know Colin. He seems a really decent chap and his CV speaks for itself. There's not many as good as him around, so I'm just looking forward to picking his brains and trying to get whatever I can from him to help me improve my game," he said.

While the thinking behind the mentor scheme seems well intended - and the hope is that it does not merely become a cash cow for former players - at this stage its biggest problem is logistical.

On the face of it, there can only be gains as players as young as 17 in the case of Scotland skipper Mike Blair's younger brother Alex, up to 25, in that of Mark McMillan who is currently in La Manga at Scotland's training camp, are exposed to the likes of John Rutherford and Andy Nicol respectively.

That Sean Lineen and Andy Robinson, the head coaches of Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh, have been involved in selecting the players who are benefiting from the programme is also right since it is vital they know what is happening with all their players.

Yet unless there are very clear parameters as to the mentors' involvement there is potential for problems with the prospect of young players having to deal with too much information.

It is only a few years since one of the complaints within the game was that international age-grade players were struggling because of the different demands of club, district and national coaches.

Since it seems that each of the mentoring relationships is going to be allowed to develop organically it will be vital that it is closely monitored to ensure there are no problems of that sort.

However, if, as is hoped, the likes of Deans, Nicol and Rutherford can help inspire Scottish players to play well enough at Test level to challenge seriously for places on a Lions tour, then the programme may achieve what it claims to be setting out to do.

This article was posted on 29-Oct-2008, 08:33 by Hugh Barrow.