GEORGE TURNER

Good things come to those who graft in rugby. And for the Glasgow and Scotland hooker, hard work is translating into superb form on the field

- Alan Dymock

AN UNEXPECTED name-drop for sure. As tactical thinkers go, you might have expected Gregor Townsend or Steve Tandy to get a mention but right there, in the middle of the conversation, is a reference to ancient military strategist Sun Tzu. Well, kind of. As Glasgow Warriors and Scotland hooker George Turner says with a bashful laugh, “What is it they say in the Art of War? Deception is good to have!”

The actual line is “All warfare is based on deception”, but consider us defeated. Because what Turner is addressing is a question about the so-called ‘Pool of Death’ at this year’s World Cup, where Scotland are pitted against world No 1, Grand Slam-claiming Ireland and reigning world champs South Africa, and whether Scotland’s unpredictability can be a weapon. Turner is honest enough to say he doesn’t know – which is alright, by the way. We expect our big sporting figures to have all the answers and he’s happy to say he doesn’t on this one. But he still gives us something to chew on, saying: “They might not know exactly what’s coming from us, but they will need to know if they don’t show up and perform that we can play.”

That, you could say, will be the Scots’ legacy of the recent Six Nations. They won three, ran France spookily close in Paris and duked it out with the Irish before a second-half collapse. Captain Jamie Ritchie described it as “four and a half” performances in the tournament, and you’d better bet that the Boks were as aware of it as Ireland had to be.