Dylan Richardson hoping to revive Scotland career with position switch

Versatile Sharks forward Dylan Richardson is relishing the opportunity to revive his fledgling Scotland career almost three years on from his debut.

The South Africa-born 25-year-old was first capped by Gregor Townsend against Japan in November 2021 but then endured a sustained period in the international wilderness as a string of injuries halted his progress.

However, Richardson earned a recall to the fold for this summer’s tour of the Americas and marked his second cap earlier this month by scoring two tries in the 73-12 win over Canada.

Reflecting on the near-32-month gap between his first and second appearance for the country of his father’s birth, Richardson told Scottish Rugby: “It was very hard because I had a lot of injuries.

“One of the key elements to becoming an international player is consistency within your performances at club level and unfortunately I wasn’t able to put that together in the past two years, just with little injuries creeping in.

“It’s part of the game we play but it was very frustrating. I had to take a step back and realign what was best for my body and decide how I was going to get a really good career out of rugby, and I think I’m starting to get aligned with that.”

In addition to getting himself fit again, Richardson – who will hope to earn his third cap against Chile in Santiago on Saturday – has benefitted from putting greater focus on playing at hooker in recent years after making his international debut as a back-rower.

“It’s been a thing for a while,” he said, reflecting on his prowess in the number two jersey. “A lot of people don’t really remember it but my first professional rugby game was at hooker, so I’ve actually played hooker for quite a while.

“I always went back and forth (between positions). The game of rugby is changing and the more positions you can play, the better. But the key thing I’m figuring out now is that being a hooker is a specialised position, so what I prefer to do now is focus on hooker and move to number six instead of the other way round.

“I think being able to play both is good for me and for the team. If there is injuries or anything like that, it’s quite easy for me to change to six.

“The change lately was instilled by coach Sean (Everitt) at the Sharks, he always wanted me to play hooker, and then latterly John Plumtree has kind of pushed that through and made me make the change.

“It’s been a lot of focus and hard work on it and I think putting my hand up and trying to get more opportunities at hooker is my next step right now.”