Luke Combs encounter was ‘pinch me’ moment for Scotland rugby player

Ulster are the visitors to Scotstoun this Saturday but Fagerson permitted himself a brief look back at his moment in the spotlight with the Grammy Award-nominated singer as he previewed the match.

Combs played two sold-out shows at Murrayfield in July and Fagerson and older brother and team-mate Zander were invited on during the second night.

The Fagersons accompanied Combs’ mother Rhonda on to the stage then proceeded to down cans of Tennent's with the singer as he performed ‘1, 2 Many’.

“It happened all pretty quickly,” Matt Fagerson explained. “We were in camp [with Scotland] during the Fiji week and our media liaison posed the question, ‘is anybody large country fans and would they be interested in coming to the gig?’

‘I’m a massive fan’

“I said, ‘I've already got tickets on Saturday with me and my wife and a couple of our friends’. He then said, ‘How big a country fan are you? I said, ‘well, I've seen Luke in New York playing at Madison Square Garden and I've been a massive fan of his for quite a while now’.

“They then asked the Luke Combs team what they thought of it as an idea and I think they were pretty stoked at it. They thought it would be pretty cool. And it was an unbelievable experience. Probably one of those pinch-me moments that I'll never get back. Me and Zander had an absolutely brilliant night.”

Fagerson is hoping for another special evening this Saturday as Glasgow look to build on last week’s fine away win over Munster in the opening round of the new United Rugby Championship season. The Warriors came from behind to win 26-20 in Limerick, with Fagerson putting in a big performance at No 8.

It’s a role he is likely to play regularly this season following the departure of Jack Dempsey to Japan and one he is already relishing.

“I've played a lot in the first part of my career at eight,” said Fagerson who tended to play at six when Dempsey was selected. “I had to learn how to play six a little bit more and got really comfortable in that. I had to fill the role at eight every now and again over the last two or three years.

A big responsibility

“I think [I will be] playing there a lot more this year, I'm really looking forward to it. It's a big responsibility. That's something in my game that I worked on from a young age and as a young kid.

“It's a part that I really like. It's something that I want to get better at and keep pushing in that regard as well. There's a lot of responsibility on the eight.”

Dempsey, who signed for Toshiba Brave Lupus in Tokyo, said this week that he would be available for Scotland’s Nations Championship games in November but not the Six Nations. That should open the door for Fagerson to play at No 8 but the Glasgow back-rower is not taking anything for granted and knows he’ll face competition from Edinburgh’s Magnus Bradbury and others.

“Having [Dempsey] back in the autumn will be awesome. Hopefully his body is in good nick out in Japan. He's had a good pre-season out there. Coming to the Six Nations, obviously depending on how we're playing and how I'm going, we've got multiple options throughout Scotland in the back row.

Kinder on my knees

“The competition there has been so intense for the last five or six years ever since I started playing. That's a brilliant thing when we come into camp. I saw Edinburgh at the weekend and Maggie [Bradbury] playing well at eight there too. I'll try to put my best foot forward here and if that translates into the national jersey then great.”

Glasgow’s game with Ulster will be their first on the new artificial pitch at Scotstoun. The surface was relaid in the summer and Fagerson hopes the springier replacement will be kinder to his joints.

“We had our first scrum session out there and there were a few going down, with the players trying to get used to it. I'm getting older so it's a lot easier on my knees. It's been good.”