Glasgow Warriors' rising star ready to fill void left by departure of 'good old head'

Johnny Matthews will depart at the end of the season to join the French side US Montauban who are currently propping up the Top 14. The free-scoring Liverpudlian will leave a big hole but it will be partly filled by the up and coming Seb Stephen who has signed a deal until summer 2028.

The 20-year-old from Aberdeen has already impressed in the Warriors jersey and has come off the bench in all five of their Investec Champions Cup matches this season, including Saturday’s win over the Bulls in the round of 16 which has set up a home quarter-final against Toulon this weekend.

His form earned him a call-up for Scotland’s Six Nations clash with France last month and although he never played it was another valuable learning experience for Stephen who has surprised himself with his rate of progress.

“At the start of the season I probably had a goal of playing just a couple of games, so I'm pretty grateful to be in the position where I've played ten or maybe a bit more than that [it’s actually 14]. I've enjoyed it so far, so I think that's a massive part of it.”

He is another young Warrior to benefit from Franco Smith’s tutelage. The Glasgow head coach has a special talent for knowing when to blood his nascent talent, and Stephen was given his debut last season against Leinster away at the Aviva Stadium. It was a daunting start for the hooker but he handled it well and has been rewarded this season with more games and a pro deal, a year earlier than expected.

“I came in last summer and got offered an academy contract for two years, so I'm pretty happy to be starting my pro one now, my first one ever,” Stephen reflected.

Advice from teammate - ‘he’s a good old head’

He admitted to being slightly daunted by the club’s strength in depth at hooker and he continues to vie with the likes of Gregor Hiddleston and Matthews for game-time. He said the latter had been especially helpful in terms of passing on advice.

“Oh, Johnny's great. He's pretty good at giving any feedback on stuff you might get yourself worked up about because it's easy to get in your own head. Jonny's obviously experienced - he's got 100 games for the club, so he's experienced with being able to deal with different emotions and different circumstances that he's probably been through. So, yeah, he's a good old head.”

Stephen said the Six Nations call-up whetted his appetite for Test rugby and he would love to be involved in the Nations Championship in the summer. But for now the focus is solely on Glasgow as they chase honours on two fronts.

“I was called in for the France game, so that was pretty awesome,” said Stephen. “It was pretty cool to see how they train and how they run their weeks for a Test week and to be involved in that and even be 24th man for that game was pretty surreal.”

He said Gregor Townsend was “pretty positive” with him. “I never got a scolding or anything like that! He's a nice guy.”