Glasgow Warriors' top try scorer pens new contract as first Scotland cap beckons after Six Nations taster

It’s been quite a season for the Dumfries boy who was called into Scotland’s Six Nations squad after establishing himself as Glasgow’s first-choice hooker.

With seasoned internationals Fraser Brown and George Turner having departed and Johnny Matthews missing most of the season with a neck injury, it’s Hiddleston who has been Franco Smith’s go-to No 2 and he’s not let his coach down.

The Warriors are flying high in the United Rugby Championship and the Champions Cup and Hiddleston has made his mark. He has eight tries from 14 appearances, outscoring the likes of Jamie Dobie (seven), George Horne, Kyle Steyn (both six) and Kyle Rowe (four).

He has a useful habit of scoring in the big games, crossing against Sale and Toulouse in Europe, Edinburgh and - on Saturday night - Leinster in the URC. In the mould of team-mate Matthews, he is adept at getting on the end of lineout drives. So did he get a try-bonus clause written into his new two-year contract?

“No, I need to speak to [Warriors MD] Kenny Brown about that!” smiled Hiddleston. “The driving maul is going so well at Glasgow and you've seen that at the weekend. Even though Leinster were down a few players we just stayed consistent with that and that's something we've been working hard with all season.”

Signing the new deal was not a difficult decision, he said.

“I'm absolutely delighted to be staying at the club. It's definitely exciting times here, considering where we are in the URC table and Champions Cup as well, and after the performance on the weekend, so yeah, I'm absolutely delighted to be staying.”

Many seasoned observers were surprised when the uncapped Hiddleston was left out of Gregor Townsend’s original Scotland squad for the Six Nations. He was eventually called up before the opener against Italy as Dave Cherry nursed an injury but he never saw any action during the campaign as Townsend preferred Ewan Ashman, Turner and Cherry.

Hiddleston would have loved to have played but his chance will surely come sooner rather than later. In the meantime, he was grateful for the advice given to him by Townsend and the rest of the coaching group.

“Yeah, obviously it was frustrating [not to play] but I got a late call-up having been initially told I was going to be playing the Scotland A game so that was still a bonus and that was an opportunity to take and show to Scotland coaches that I want to be in there.

“I absolutely love working with the coaches in the different environment. It was pretty much the same players because they're all from Glasgow just about. But yeah, it was really enjoyable being 24th man and going to all the big games and things. So it's a good experience.

“Gregor's really good, a really positive guy. Approachable. He picks up on one or two little things but the main thing is he's really positive. You want to make sure when you go into training you want to work as hard as you can and try to help the boys that are playing the best I can.”

Hiddleston will hopefully get his cap chance in the summer during the Nations Championship but for now it’s about helping the Warriors end the season on a high, starting with Friday’s home game with Benetton.

“That's the main thing now: the Scotland hat's off and the Glasgow hat's back on,” he said. “It's just important taking one game at a time here at Glasgow and trying to keep the same form as the whole team really.

“Now they're all out of that environment and back in here at Glasgow. You look at those European Cup games, the Saracens, the Toulouse games. We need to get that form back and fast leading up to the end of the season.”