The Times Sport - UK (2020-08-15)

12 1GS Saturday August 15 2020 | the times

Sport Rugby union

also took soundings from the former

Chiefs and Scotland prop Moray Low

and Matt Taylor, the long-time

Glasgow and Scotland defence coach

now working for the Wallabies.

Identity is important to Gray — look

at his Chiefs kit bag and you will see a

tie from his first club, Cambuslang,

wrapped around the handles. In

Devon, he believes he has found a

group and a culture he can buy into.

“Even playing against them, you

could tell they’re a close-knit team

and after a few weeks here, I can see

everyone is really together,” he says.

“It’s exciting to be part of it. I’m going

to be playing teams and in venues

that I’ve never seen before, against all

the world-class players in this league.

I’ll be coming up against different

styles as well. It’s going to be a tough

challenge, but a real opportunity too.”

Today, he makes his debut against

Leicester Tigers, who were thrashed

43-0 by Glasgow at Welford Road

three years ago and have known

consistently lean times since. Gray

was captain that day and scored a try.

Yet even though the Midlanders are

second bottom as the Premiership

resumes, they arrive in Exeter with a

new head coach, Steve Borthwick, a

raft of signings headlined by the great

Nemani Nadolo and lingering hope of

forcing their way into the Heineken

Champions Cup qualification spots.

“Every team you come up against is

going to have something to play for,”

says Gray, who delivers a Leone

Nakarawa-esque sidestep when asked

if he has a view on how the Chiefs

players should make an anti-racism

stance pre-match. “I’m just looking at

the games, which are going to come

thick and fast now. We’ve got clear

objectives of our own, still being in

the hunt for two trophies between the

Premiership and Europe. The training

is so competitive. The boys can switch

off and have a laugh, but when you

work, you really work. When the

group splits for [an intra-squad] game,

you get an idea of how many top-

quality players are around.”

This is Gray’s first time living away

from the west of Scotland — “I’m still

getting used to the nice weather” —

and Richie, his elder brother and

fellow second row, has rejoined

Glasgow after eight years with Sale

Sharks, Castres and Toulouse.

Through a mix of injury-enforced and

elective unavailability, the 65-cap

Richie has not featured since the 2018

Six Nations while Jonny, who has 57,

damaged thumb ligaments in

February’s defeat by England and

missed wins over Italy and France.

“We can’t hide the pain from the

World Cup — it still hurts because we

had goals in Japan, to qualify [for the

quarter-finals], and we didn’t,” he says.

“We let a lot of people down, let

ourselves down, but I think there

have been some strides forward since,

especially in the way the boys

defended against France [in a 28-

win]. I was proud watching that.”

Gray refuses to countenance

discussion of Scotland’s much-delayed

Six Nations closer against Wales in

October, never mind the prospect of

following 2013 Lion Richie on to a

combined tour. “I’m just happy to be

down here and being part of a really

special club,” he says. “All I’m

focusing on is doing my job and

getting better. That and trying to

avoid Hoggy — the man’s got too

much energy.”

He speaks enthusiastically about all

the training “extras” that are part of

life at the Chiefs. Even after almost

1,500 successful league tackles during

those Glasgow years, he still thinks

there are gains to be made in that

part of his game. “I do a lot to try and

improve it: I still get stepped by

Hoggy in the one-on-one tackle

drills.” Oh, the shame.

If Exeter isn’t quite a lunar

expedition, the chance to break new

ground is still obvious.

Tackling machine

hoping to scale new

heights with Exeter

Kevin Millar, a curator of weird and
wonderful Glasgow Warriors
statistics, recently worked out that the
same number of people – 12 – have
walked on the moon as managed to
evade a Jonny Gray tackle in eight
years of Pro14 rugby.
The lock’s tackling prowess has
long been the stuff of legend (last year
he managed 43 in a game against
Leinster), but it can also cloud
appreciation of the other things he
brings to the table. For instance, Rob
Baxter, the director of rugby at his
new club Exeter Chiefs, believes the
26-year-old is a far better carrier than
most imagine, having admired the
frequency and effectiveness of his
output in this area with Glasgow and
Scotland over the past 18 months.
Now we all get to discover if Gray
has another level in him, as he begins
life at a club and in a league where his
all-round game will come under the
microscope. With a British & Irish
Lions tour on the horizon at the end
of an insanely busy year, it would be a
perfect time for him to show he really
does belong in the same bracket as
Maro Itoje, James Ryan, Alun Wyn
Jones and assorted other super-
powered second-rows all gunning for
a spot in Warren Gatland’s squad.
Gray has got off to a purposeful
start by pushing outside his comfort
zone and leaving the club he
supported as a child for one where he
has more to prove and more to gain.
“I’m very lucky to have this
opportunity at a team with world-
class talent all over the place and
where they talk about striving for
success every day,” he says. “The
coaches have clear ideas about your
strengths and where they think you
can improve, and they’re really
straightforward about telling you.
Hopefully I can improve loads of
areas of my game. I know I’ve a lot I
need to get better at.”
As with his Scotland team-mate
Stuart Hogg, who moved to Sandy
Park last autumn having turned down
a 2016 approach, Gray could have
made the switch the previous time he
was out of contract at Scotstoun.
“I felt back then [late 2017] I wasn’t
quite ready but when the opportunity
came again, I was really grateful that
a team like that would want me,” he
says. “After those previous
conversations with Rob, I started to
watch the Chiefs a bit more and from
playing against them a few times in
Europe, it was obvious what a quality
outfit they are.”
As well as Hogg, Gray already
knew his fellow Scotland lock Sam
Skinner and the recently arrived
scrum half Sam Hidalgo-Clyne. He

Where once Exeter

Chiefs were renowned

as a home from home

for Australian players

(think Dean Mumm, Nic

White, Greg Holmes,

Dave Dennis, Lachie

Turner, Julian Salvi), Rob

Baxter has recently

indulged in a spot of

‘Jockpiling’.

There has long been a

seam of Caledonian

representation at Sandy

Park, with the likes of

prop Moray Low, above

right, and wing Byron

McGuigan in recent

years. Before them, men

such as Matt Taylor and

Bryan Easson wore the

shirt, as did the Cornish-

born former Scotland

lock Andy Reed.

Stuart Hogg, the

dazzling full back who

was selected for the

2013 and 2017 Lions

tours, signed last

autumn, joining Test

colleague Sam Skinner, a

richly talented back-five

forward. Lock Jonny

Gray arrived this

summer along with Sam

Hidalgo-Clyne, the

12-cap scrum half.

Craig Townsend,

brother of the national

head coach Gregor, used

to play outside centre

for the Chiefs and his

player development

manager role with the

RPA (Rugby Players’

Association) now takes

in the club.

Jonny Gray has swapped ‘Jockpiling’: how the Chiefs turned to Scotland

Glasgow for Sandy Park,

where he has more to

prove and more to gain,

he tells Mark Palmer

TODAY

Worcester Warriors v

Gloucester

12.30pm, BT Sport Extra

At the age of 21 years

and 142 days, Ted Hill

becomes the youngest

captain in Worcester’s

history. New recruit Billy

Searle is at fly half

instead of Scotland’s

Duncan Weir, while there

is also a debut for Matt

Kvesic — who returns to

Sixways after seven

years away — against

one of his former clubs.

Jonny May makes his

second debut for

Gloucester, who now

have a new head coach

in George Skivington.

Gloucester have

disappointed this

season, but May joins an

exciting back three of

Ollie Thorley and Jason

Woodward, with Danny

Cipriani pulling the

strings, while Jack

Singleton makes his first

start at hooker.

Exeter Chiefs v

Leicester Tigers

2pm, BT Sport 1

The title favourites and

gold standard of stability

host the transitioning

fallen giants. Chiefs are

well on course for

another home semi-final

and Jonny Gray will

make his debut in a very

strong Exeter XV, with

fellow Scottish recruit

Sam Hidalgo-Clyne on a

bench that also features

the Welsh prop Tomas

Matt Cotton’s Gallagher Premiership guide: all the

Most tackles in a Premiership game,

by Saracens’ Jacques Burger in 2013

34

Gray feels the

force of Gareth

Steenson in

an inter-squad

training match