“I literally said to him,” Whatever you have on the budget, give me an offer. “

When Matt Scott told his wife that Leicester Tigers had offered him a contract that ended four months of gnawing uncertainty, she burst into tears. When her first child was out and his contract with Edinburgh expired, Tiger’s intervention was a merciful liberation.

Scott is now satisfied with his lot. He feels very happy to have signed for one of the game’s famous ancient giants when so many of his friends crawl around with nothing in a corona-driven market. He doesn’t look back bitterly at the way he left or had to leave Edinburgh, but there is a significant amount of disappointment about how the whole episode developed.

Orally, the center was offered a new three-year contract in November. He and his agent had several weeks to think about the conditions and tell the club if he wanted to sign. When he came back to say yes, he was told that the offer no longer existed.

Rugby will be back …

“It wasn’t like I was offered something and then dumped it in the bin and it took ages,” says Scott RugbyPass. “I came back within their deadline and said we would take it. They said there was no offer at all, the picture had changed and the pieces of the puzzle just wouldn’t fit me. Financially, they couldn’t afford to keep me going.

“I was really at a loss; I didn’t understand why it happened. They said they thought I didn’t want to stay. There was only a complete breakdown in communication.

“I just felt a little disappointed because I had been in the club for a long time and they had the impression that I might not want to stay or that the offer would not be on the table. I would have liked to have said it. I felt like I hadn’t done anything wrong.

“My wife was really looking forward to staying three more years and we wanted to start a family. To be honest, it was just an exception. “

Richard Cockerill, the combative little trainer who transformed Edinburgh with an iron fist, doesn’t want centers. Still, losing Scott is a brutal blow. For much of the shortened season, he was one of the PRO14’s most effective and skillful midfielders. At 29, he’s in the shape of his life, slim and boastful, and free from the injuries that followed him for a second spell when he returned from Gloucester two years ago.

When it became clear that the new offer was gone, he was at a loss. He immediately picked up the cockerill handset, but it was too late. Edinburgh needed half a fly to replace Simon Hickey, and the money earmarked for Scott was sucked in elsewhere.

“I literally said to him, ‘Whatever you have on the budget, give me an offer. I’m happy to be able to cut my wages and stay, ”Scott reveals.

“I leave all of my best friends in the club and after certain things have been said as if they are not looking at anyone, they sign two more centers [Jordan Venter and Matt Gordon].

“I know that they are not established internationals and I understand that I would ask for a higher salary and I was injured a good deal. I understand that this is rugby right now, it is very much a business, you are a commodity as a player, you are not really a person.

“It’s easy to look at a statistics sheet and say that he played x minutes, but it doesn’t give you the full picture of this guy and the value he brings to a squad.

Richard Cockerill was Matt Scott’s head coach in Edinburgh (Photo by Bill Murray / SNS Group via Getty Images)

“I understand that they don’t have an endless budget, but people who are on the periphery of the Scottish team and play well should really try to keep them. It was disappointing. “

Rugby is breakneck and Scott’s predicament is anything but unusual, but it stung him that after almost 100 games and seven seasons in two stints, things ended that way in his youth club.

He was also worried that people would see him as a mercenary chasing a fat paycheck in England when Edinburgh made it clear that they didn’t have the money to keep him. The reality is very different.

“I don’t want people to think I came to Leicester because of the money, because that’s certainly not the case,” he says.

“Many Americans don’t know how to be a professional rugby player.”

. @ SDLegion head coach Scott Murray on:

– @maavelou’s first weeks in SD?
– Sign @ChrisRobshaw?
– Why did he leave France? ? & more … with @ JLyall93 https://t.co/6fzVX2mZI3

– RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 27, 2020

“The money that Leicester was initially able to offer was not good at all, but I had nothing and I was really impressed with what they had to say about me and the club, how little they achieved, but they were really good at recruiting Place with [former Springbok strength and conditioning coach] Aled Walters, Mike Ford and Steve Borthwick, which I really liked.

“I just said, ‘Look, I want this to work,’ and we managed to work out the finer details. When I said to my wife, she started to cry, “Oh my god, we actually have something!”

“I did it, I managed to get a contract – imagine I couldn’t have done it with a baby on the way. I was very lucky. I played international rugby and gained a good reputation, but there are people who really work, who have to move a lot, who don’t make a lot of money and who don’t get a lot of recognition from the coaches.

“I just feel very happy and incredibly happy. I spoke to a lot of really good players who had nothing and I managed to sign for one of the biggest clubs in Europe. “

Matt Scott in action for Gloucester Rugby (Getty Images)

This feels like a groundbreaking summer for the Tigers, a juggernaut of English rugby who have been on their knees for far too long. In Borthwick, they have a highly respected operator who starts as a head coach, and they are working hard to make Nemani Nadolo, Cyle Brink, Blake Enever and Scott themselves among the players.

A prime backline in Leicester in August could be Ben Young and George Ford as central defenders, Scott and Manu Tuilagi as central defenders, and a threesome from Nadolo, Telusa Veainu and Jordan Olowofela. It is an exciting prospect.

“Steve said it’s exciting that we are both at the start of rebuilding one of the largest clubs in Europe and getting them back where they belong – really exciting,” said Scott. I’ve done this rebuilding phase in clubs a few times, but it only feels really good with these coaches and these players, when you look at the team that we can put on paper, it’s phenomenal.

“Everything is there to be successful and I would like to be in a club that wins consistently. We were on our way there with Edinburgh, every player wants to win a big trophy before hanging up their boots, and hopefully we can do something after a lot of hard work in Leicester. “

Tumua Manu was one of @ ChiefsRugby’s most reliable performers in 2019. Not a bad buy for @SectionPaloise. #SuperRugbyAotearoa # Top14https: //t.co/gODPAURuWc

– RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 27, 2020

After Scott’s return to Gregor Townsend’s Six Nations squad this season, he plans to add to his 39 caps in Scotland, the last of which happened almost exactly three years ago when the Wallabies crashed in Sydney.

Borthwick attracts him at a time when he’s never been better equipped to bloom. In the past tenure, he spent many dark and almost ruinous months with concussion symptoms that would not subside. The headache made him irritable; The pain relief medication turned him into a zombie. But when he got through the agony, he got to know himself and his body and he attacked this campaign with wild force.

“I had the same feeling when I stepped onto the field in Gloucester’s first season, where I felt like I would definitely score a goal today, I’ll take breaks today, I’ll have sales today,” he says.

?

A preview of what we at @ MattScott_10 can look forward to before it shows up in the Leicester Tigers green, red and white next season! pic.twitter.com/AugzgMLukR

– Leicester Tigers (@LeicesterTigers) April 29, 2020

“It’s an incredible bunch in Edinburgh, so close to the field, and I think that comes when you have a coach who challenges the players. Sometimes it’s always difficult to make the atmosphere positive, and it really brought us together.

“The squad they have is ridiculous, the depth they have in some positions with young people, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they reach semi-finals and finals more often. I will miss her very much. “

Scott can begin training in Leicester on July 1st. He moved south last week and is preparing his new home for his third and precious resident, who is due to arrive in October. There is now no hostility to Edinburgh, the club he loves, let alone the great friends left behind, just a deep sense of gratitude for the new beginnings he is ready to take.