AS he settles down to try to resurrect a promising rugby career cruelly interrupted by a series of injuries last season, 21-year-old Edinburgh second row Steven Turnbull at least has a surfeit of quality role models.
Already he has chosen to emulate the two most-capped players in Scottish rugby history – Chris Paterson and Scott Murray – one way or another as he enters the Edinburgh set-up having graduated from the national rugby academy over the summer.
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Paterson the Heriot's-affiliated ace chose to suspend studies in order to concentrate fully on rugby while the example set by Murray takes the form of also having given up junior international basketball to chase oval ball glory.
Both stars have displayed no obvious signs of regretting their decisions in reaching professional peaks and Turnbull is committed now to doing likewise.
On his decision to temporarily opt out of a sports science degree at Napier University after one year, Turnbull said: "When I moved through from Stirling County to join Heriot's it just felt appropriate to concentrate entirely on rugby."
As for his basketball background Turnbull says he can continuing drawing on benefits.
"I got to enjoy a fair amount of travel through being part of the Scottish under-16 and 18 teams visiting the likes of Cyprus, Italy and France for European Championships. Eventually a choice had to be made and I opted for rugby.
"Basketball and rugby may be different sports but the skills are very similar. Ball handling and catching rebounds is all very similar to the skills you need in rugby. I feel my basketball skills can definitely add to my rugby game."
What Turnbull requires most of all, though, is a break from injury, although he remains optimistic that he has crammed as many knocks as some players experience in a lifetime into one season.
"Things were going very well when I first joined up with Edinburgh and found myself starting against Cardiff Blues at Murrayfield and Newport Gwent Dragons away. Also, in the Magners Celtic League, I was on the bench against Connacht, which presented me with my debut.
"The Heineken Cup provided substitute shifts against Leinster and Agen. Then came the downside of professional sport as I started 2007-08 by having a shoulder op and that was followed by a broken thumb and knee surgery.
"Hopefully the injury cloud which meant only a few games for Heriot's has moved on and the upside is that I was able to spend a lot of time in the gym re-grouping, increasing muscle mass and generally putting on weight."
The benefits of those gym stints are obvious. "My weight has increased from not much over 100kg to 116kg while leaving me feeling in good shape," explained Turnbull.
With that physique and a proven ability to put himself around – he was Scottish under-19 Player of the Year in 2006 – it may not be too long before a first chance looms since Andy Robinson took up the coaching reins at Edinburgh although competition has increased in his position.
Turnbull added: "I am well aware of the competition that will be provided by the arrival of (Scotland lock] Jim Hamilton but, for me, that is a bonus. With international second rows such as Jim, Matt Mustchin and Craig Hamilton around, as well as the experienced Ben Gissing, I can only learn from them."
The message is that when opportunity comes Turnbull will be looking to take it with both hands and his home town of Dunblane may have launched a second star on to the Scottish sporting firmament after Turnbull's former tennis partner, Andy Murray.
Speaking at Sighthill Library as part of a project embraced by Edinburgh Rugby to assist youngsters take up reading, 6ft 7in Turnbull admitted: "Andy and I are the same age and even shared a tennis court at one time. I wasn't much competition overall but maybe he had to work a bit harder on his lobs during our games."
The full article contains 676 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
