Centre Nick De Luca has missed a year of Scotland duty with an eye injury, but the Edinburgh player says he is now looking forward to reclaiming the position.
The 29-year-old suffered a fractured eye socket while training with the Gunners last January and the operation required to fix his shattered face meant he sat out both the six nations and the South Africa tour.
De Luca, capped 38 times so far, feared he might never be able to play again. But with the injury finally healed, he has now earned himself a recall to Scott Johnson’s Scotland squad for the opening autumn Test against Japan at Murrayfield tomorrow.
De Luca intends to make the most of the chance granted to him by the Australian head coach.
He said: “I’m delighted to be back in and now I plan to show that on Saturday.
“It was very tough being out injured. I found it difficult sitting in the stands watching. Every player just wants to play, so when you can’t, your emotions are up and down.
“It was a really worrying time. Because of the nature of the eye injury, I had to really sit down and think what I would do if it didn’t go my way. Luckily, things are going my way now and I can see one thing instead of two. Now I need to make the most of being back fit and healthy.”
De Luca’s last outing as a Scotland player was the humiliating 21-15 defeat by Tonga at Pittodrie last November. It was arguably one of the worst results in the national team’s history and forced the resignation of then head coach Andy Robinson.
The Englishman’s former number two Johnson stepped up to replace him and did a sterling job as he led Scotland to third place in the six nations.
Scotland suffered consecutive defeats by Samoa and the Spingboks during their spell in South Africa this summer but nevertheless the team ended the tour in good spirits and De Luca says the feelgood factor has returned.
“There’s a different feeling about the place,” he said. “The training is different, the environment is different. It’s now a really good place to be.
“Scott has made a difference. As our leader, he is always going to put his personality on the squad. You can see the effect that has had, especially in the way we train and even around the hotel where we are all staying right now.
“There’s a different vibe and the boys are all a bit more upbeat. That benefits us on the pitch. We are all creatures of habit and right now we are all out on the pitch a lot drilling things so that come a match, when the pressure is on, it becomes automatic.”
However, Johnson is only leading the team on a temporary basis and will hand over the reins to Clermont Auvergne’s Kiwi head coach Vern Cotter in June of next year before moving to a technical director role with the Scottish Rugby Union.
Cotter, 51, is in Scotland this week to see how the side is progressing and has been spotted watching their training sessions.
De Luca, though, does not believe the squad will be in danger of receiving mixed messages.
He said: “We could worry or panic and come up with 100 different way things will change when Vern takes over. But we’re making sure that we are concentrating on what Scott wants us to do.”
Last night the Scottish Rugby Union inducted 10 more names into its Hall of Fame.
The inductees were, Mark Morrison, Ian Smith, Hugh McLeod, Ian McLauchlan, Jim Renwick, David Leslie, Gary Armstrong, Chris Paterson, Norman Mair and John Rutherford.