Johnny Matthews equals mark set by Glasgow Warriors greats and credits fellow hooker for helping his development

Johnny Matthews joined some exalted company at the weekend when he scored a second-half try for Glasgow Warriors in the win over Connacht.

Johnny Matthews has scored 12 tries for Glasgow Warriors this season. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

It was the hooker’s 12th of the season, equalling a club record for the most in a single campaign in the professional era. We are indebted to Kevin Millar, the Warriors’ stats guru, for noting that Matthews matched the mark set to by Sean Lamont (2003-04), Thom Evans (2008-09), DTH van der Merwe (2010-11) and George Horne (2018-19). Given that Glasgow have at least two and possibly five matches remaining, Matthews now has the opportunity to beat that illustrious quartet. Not bad for someone who has to vie with two Scotland hookers for a place in the team. It was ever thus for Matthews who came through the Scottish club ranks via stints in the English lower league before making his mark at Scotstoun.

“I always make the joke that I came here four years ago as World Cup cover and they still haven’t got rid of me,” he said. “But I love coming here every day to train and I love playing at the weekend. Sometimes I do have to pinch myself that I was given that opportunity, and I’m just so glad that I grabbed it with both hands.”

He’s certainly done that and will be a key player for Glasgow as they chase honours on two fronts. First up are the Scarlets in Llanelli on Saturday in the semi-finals of the European Challenge Cup, and that’s followed seven days later by a home clash with Munster in the play-off quarter-finals of the United Rugby Championship. With Fraser Brown and George Turner also looking to claim the No 2 jersey, Matthews knows he’ll have a battle on his hands to keep his place in Franco Smith’s match-day 23, but the hooker believes the competition is bringing the best out of them all. “The fact Franco has been rotating the squad means he does have some difficult decisions to make but it also means we are in a much stronger place,” said Matthews, who scored a club record five tries against the Dragons earlier this month. “There are over 40 boys who could all be named in the match-day squad this weekend without any real drop in performance level. That’s the confidence we have as a squad. And the toughest games we have are out there on a Tuesday and Thursday when everyone is going hell for leather against each other. It is a great spot to be in.”

The Liverpool-born but Scottish-qualified Matthews cut his teeth with Sedgley Park, Yorkshire Carnegie, Rotherham Titans and the Sale Jets before decamping to Scotland. He played for Boroughmuir and was the Scottish Premiership's top try scorer before winning the move to Glasgow in 2019. He has thrived in the pro environment and cites Brown as an important influence. “We’re lucky that we’ve got a hooker group who work well together and drive each other on,” said Matthews. “Fraser worked with me a lot on lineout throwing last summer which brought me on, and that’s helped me get into the position where I am competing for the match-day squad, so if it wasn’t for him helping me out I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in now.”