Jack Mann: Injury setbacks to Six Nations call-up
Jack Mann has earned his first Scotland call-up
©Glasgow Warriors
There were fewer surprises and newer names than usual when Gregor Townsend announced his Scotland squad for the upcoming Guinness Men’s Six Nations on Wednesday, but one inclusion that did jump off the page was Jack Mann.
While the uncapped player grabbing most of the headlines from the 37-man playing group was Saracens’ former New Zealand Under-20 stand-off Fergus Burke, for those who have watched Scottish club, Super6/Series and pro rugby in the last six years or so, it was heartening to see Mann in there.
The 25-year-old back-row always looked like he had something about him when he played for Edinburgh Accies as well as Scotland Under-20s, and he then stepped up into the semi-pro game with Heriot’s.
Franco Smith, the Glasgow Warriors head coach, clearly saw something in him because Mann was asked to train with the Scotstoun outfit back in 2022. Smith then gave him a surprise pro debut in December of that year.
Glasgow won that Challenge Cup match 22-19 against Bath and No.8 Mann had a stormer until he went off with a concussion on the hour mark.
In the end, a long stand-down period was needed but then Mann suffered a serious ankle injury.
All of which meant, that although he signed a new contract with the Warriors last March, he did not actually play for them again until November meaning he had gone 719 days between pro games.
Glasgow beat the Scarlets 17-15 that evening with Mann at No.8 and since then, he has been a consistent starter in the team with Jack Dempsey recovering from injury.
"We are so happy for Jack," head coach Townsend told TRU.
"We were really excited about Jack two years ago when he played that game down at Bath and just looked like a player that's got so much to bring at No.8.
"His ball carrying, his defensive ability and post-tackle work were excellent in that game and then, of course, he had a long lay-off.
"It's been great that he's came back and played regularly recently and last weekend, that was a physical Racing 92 pack he was up against in the Champions Cup and he looked strong and he had a big influence in the game. We are looking forward to him meeting up with the group and getting involved."
‘He was having a meal with his Mum when I called him’
Over the years, we have heard of players from various nations not taking calls from head coaches because they think it is just their friends trying to wind them up.
Thankfully, however, Mann did answer the phone a few days ago when he saw Townsend’s name flash up on his phone - even if he had to excuse himself from a meal with his Mum.
"I think it was a surprise to Jack when he got the call,” Townsend revealed.
"He was having a meal with his Mum when I called him and he had obviously left the table to take the call and I said; ‘You go back to the meal and I can call you in an hour’, but I think he obviously wanted to know what the call was for!
"Sometimes you make these calls to players and it is bad news or you're giving someone just a little; ‘By the way, you were in our thoughts’ type of message and telling them what things to work on and such like.
"And then obviously there are the nice ones when you're telling news that they are in the squad and this was one of those calls.
"I can only imagine how tough it was for Jack to go through that period where he had to stand down and then suffered more injury. I'm sure, at times, maybe he even considered that his rugby career was ending.
"But to now have played so well over the last few weeks and now be in the Scotland squad, it's all been worth it.
"It's been worth all those tough times and he's shown real resilience and it is great to have someone who has gone through those experiences and come out the other side and has a real toughness coming into our group."
‘I was so grateful to be involved in that game against Bath, but I didn’t know what would come next’
In a recent interview during his run of games with Glasgow, Mann looked back on the last two or so years and the rollercoaster he has been on.
"I was so grateful to be involved in that game against Bath in 2022, but I didn’t know what would come next," he stated.
"In the 60th minute, I got that concussion which then spilled into last season because I was out for a year with that. I came back in December 2023 and then two weeks later, my ankle got blown to pieces.
"I then came back with two months left in the 2023/24 season. I played in a couple of ‘A’ games, unfortunately I wasn’t involved in any knock-out rugby or anything like that, but to be honest I wasn’t really expecting to be having been out for so long.
"In terms of the head injury, it wasn’t so much that I had any problems with my symptoms or anything like that. It was that I had three concussions in a year.
"The normal stand-down period for that would be three months, but if I got another concussion within a year after those three I would be out for six months.
"So, the thinking was if they put me on that [year-long] stand-down, because of the World Cup, I would only miss four or five games of the 2023/24 season. That thinking actually worked out quite well, but it just so happened that the cards fell as they did and I broke my ankle two weeks after coming back.”
But now Mann has so much to look forward to.
