It was great to score all 19 points v England

I WAS a mad-keen cricketer growing up and, in March 1994, I was selected to go on a Scotland cricket tour to South Africa.

- DUNCAN HODGE

I couldn’t go because of university exams and also the fact I was also part of the Scotland U21 rugby set-up. My only sporting regret was not going on that cricket tour as opening the batting for Scotland would have been the dream. But I can’t really complain with how things turned out. That same summer age 19 I toured Argentina with the senior Scotland squad after Craig Chalmers cried off. It was at that point rugby took over as we toured every summer and cricket fell by the wayside.

Playing for Watsonians really helped my progression. I found myself in a team with three Lions in the backline: Gavin and Scott Hastings and Roger Baird. They were all part of my childhood memories so it was great to play with them and be mentored by them. I was also picked to play 10 for Scotland A when we beat the Springboks at the Greenyards. I got exposed to a lot of top-level rugby early which was great.

When you are young, you don’t feel nerves. But I did struggle with pre-match nerves in the early stages of my pro career, to the extent I’d knacker myself before the match started. As a stand-off you had to know everything about the opposition and how, as far as possible, the game was likely to pan out. From six in the morning I’d start obsessing about the game ahead, playing it over and over in my head. I struggled to eat on the morning of a match and everything had to be taken in liquid form. I’ll never forget my first game for Leeds. We were playing Bath on a beautiful afternoon in front of a full house. But in the warmup I was absolutely shattered. My legs were like lead. The nervous energy I’d expended had just exhausted me.