As a No.8 and wing I was called McLomu

THE FORMER SCOTLAND, GOLDEN LIONS, GLASGOW, LONDON IRISH, LEEDS AND EDINBURGH BACK ROW/WING

- ROLAND REID

I always found I played at my best when I didn’t have the sense of pressure that often comes with professional sport – a pressure to be on top of everything, constantly trying to prove yourself for coaches. Many of the coaches I played for were trying to get to grips with the professional game themselves.

On the flip side, coaches like Eugene Eloff – one of South Africa’s most successful age grade coaches – Richie Dixon and Rob Moffat, in my early days at Glasgow, and Gary Gold during my time at London Irish, knew how to get the best out of me. Yes, they had structures and game plans, but they knew their players and gave me freedom to just play.

With my height, weight and pace, I was billed as McLomu. To be compared to one of rugby’s most iconic superstars after one Test was just ridiculous. If you look at players like Tim Visser and Duhan van der Merwe, they’re the same size as me, but they are out-and-out wingers. Some days I would play games starting in the back row and ending it on the wing and vice versa. In retrospect, it probably did impact on me in terms of my identity as a player.

I think I played OK in my two Test caps for Scotland on the wing and I did well for Glasgow there but No.8 is where I really loved playing and produced my best rugby. It gave me the freedom to run with the backs and to get involved in the hustle and bustle of the forwards, the best of both worlds.