Growing up in the Borders town of Jedburgh, rugby was all around Scotland Under-20’s second row Glen Young.
To enter our fantastic competition to win RBS 6 Nations tickets and witness the magic of the 2014 tournament first-hand click here
As he explains, “Jedburgh is quite the rugby town. It is a really small town, so everybody knows each other; there are only about 5,000 people. Greig Laidlaw is from there and I would talk to him when I see him. Greig and his uncle Roy are so inspirational. Just thinking about how well they have done playing for their country makes me want to play for Scotland.”
Other Jedburgh rugby luminaries are Scotland Sevens identical twins Lewis and Gregor Young – Glen’s first cousins. As he puts it, “I come from quite a sporty family. Everybody is pretty competitive.”
To add to the Young family sporting pedigree, Glen’s father Doug was an ABA heavyweight-boxing champion, he won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games and took part in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
The past month has been one of firsts for the 19 year-old. Just six days before making his Scotland Under-20’s debut against Ireland in Athlone, the 19-year-old made his first senior competitive appearance for Newcastle Falcons.
That whirlwind week is something he relished “I played in the LV Cup against Saracens a few weeks ago, so that was pretty good. Unfortunately, it was not a great game for us but I felt I played fairly well. It was a big step up to play at that level but I really enjoyed it. As it was before the Six Nations, it actually really helped me get ready for the physicality of the Under 20’s.”
In terms of emotional intensity Young’s first under 20’s cap, despite Scotland’s defeat to Ireland was also something of a first.
“It was probably the most pumped I have ever been for a game, I really enjoyed that. It was a tough game, the conditions weren’t great but it was a very proud moment,” he added.
“It is quite a high achievement to play for your country at under 20’s level, I think, so I am really chuffed with it. I think the other lads feel the same, they are really proud too. You can tell when we have our team talks as everyone is really pumped up and buying into things.”
The six foot seven lock cannot help but laugh when he tells the story of how he came to play in the second row, “I was a fullback until about three years ago until I got really tall. But I wasn’t great at fullback.
“I was actually pretty poor at fullback and then my coach said, ‘would you ever fancy playing in the second row?’ I thought that I might as well give it a shot and it turned out I absolutely loved it!” He then concludes with a wry chuckle, “And I seemed to be a bit better at second row than fullback! I have never looked back since then.”
After spending a year in the Newcastle Falcons Academy, Young signed his first professional contract last summer. Young gives an interesting insight into what makes him tick as a player, “I think I am naturally motivated. I just love playing rugby; just getting the chance to actually play motivates me in itself.
“Thinking about getting the chance to play more games for Newcastle or for the Scotland Under 20’s just motivates me a lot. Last year my motivation was to get a contract and I did get that. I think having goals like that always really help to keep me motivated.”
Young’s next aim is with his Scotland Under-20’s colleagues to claim a first win in their Under-20s Six Nations campaign, “Some of the results have been a bit disappointing,” he said. “We did not get off to best of starts but hopefully we can build on it and have a good game against Italy.”
Visit our official RBS 6 Nations Instagram page to follow all the best images from the Championship
