Sale Sharks winger Arron Reed admits he is in career-best form as he bids to move up the international pecking order with Scotland.
The prolific finisher, 25, was born and raised in the north-west of England and represented the Red Rose at Under-18 and Under-20 level.
But despite interest from Steve Borthwick, Reed made his Scotland debut against Canada in the summer and has scored four tries in three Test appearances for Gregor Townsend’s side. And having bagged a deadly double during Sale’s impressive 39-25 bonus-point win over Leicester Tigers last Sunday, Reed believes his career can reach new heights.
“Best form of my life”
He acknowledged that first-choice wideman Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe will take some shifting as Scotland’s first-choice wingers.
With the likes of Kyle Rowe, Blair Kinghorn and Kyle Steyn also competing for wing spots, Reed knows he has to maintain his current form.
He declared: “Sometimes you just can’t stop scoring tries and that’s happening at the moment.
“I’m in the best form of my life, I’m enjoying my rugby and have come back to Sale probably even more confident following my time in the Scotland camp.
“It’s also made me a bit braver to be myself on the pitch and show what I can do.
“It’s quite tough for Scotland because I’ve obviously got two unbelievable starting wingers ahead of me at the moment.
“But you’ve just got to play well in every game for your club and put yourself in the window for people to see.
“Hopefully the Scotland coaches see that and back me in a big game.
“I’d love to get that opportunity and I’m doing all I can at the moment to achieve it.”
Reed’s Scotland debut
Reed’s family are Scottish on his Edinburgh-born father’s side and he made his debut against Canada during Scotland’s summer tour.
The Sale man has since featured against Chile and Portugal, scoring four times in three Test appearances.
He notched his first tries at Murrayfield in the recent 59-21 win over Portugal and admitted: “It was a really proud moment for my family.
“They all came to the game and were singing Flower of Scotland, so to see me score twice in front of over 60,000 supporters on my home debut was amazing.
“My wife’s family are all Scottish as well, so that made it even more special.
“Playing for Scotland has made me even more proud of my Scottish ancestry, without a doubt.
“Growing up in England, you probably don’t think about it too much because you just go with the system that’s there.
“You go with whatever is right at the time but, after a conversation with my dad and my wife convinced me it was right to represent Scotland.”
Reed, who hails from Wigan and played rugby league in his formative years, revealed he had interest from England boss Borthwick before deciding to commit to Scotland.
He said: “It wasn’t an invite to a camp or anything, but I had a phone call from Steve about a year ago.
“He was just seeing where I was at, but obviously I’ve committed to Scotland now.
“The aim is to win the Premiership and Investec Champions Cup with Sale – those two competitions are massive for all the lads here – and get a starting spot at international level.
“Whether that’s in the forthcoming Six Nations or the next autumn internationals, I want to show myself on the big stage for Scotland.
“Hopefully everything will come from that.”
Reflecting on his quickfire second-half double against Leicester last weekend, Reed said: “I didn’t really have to do much; I just had to finish them off in the corner.
“The first one was a fantastic team try as we came from our own 22-metre line I think, then it was hands to the edge and I scored in the corner.
“The second one was just a nice ball over the top and I scored in the corner, so I’d definitely say I’m in the best form of my life.”
READ MORE: Investec Champions Cup: Fixtures and match officials for blockbuster start to the new campaign
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://rugga.co.za/uncategorised/best-form-of-my-life-scotland-flyer-hopes-to-usurp-unbelievable-wingers-and-be-backed-in-a-big-game/
