“A bit of a fruit salad,” is how Ewan Johnson describes his background and it feels quite apt.
English-born to a Welsh mother and Scottish father, his parents’ early retirement from the police saw the family move to Brittany when Johnson was just four years old and elder brother Lewis a year older. Younger sibling Finlay would come along once they had settled on the west coast.
France has been Johnson’s home ever since that cross-Channel flit two decades ago, schooled in Paris where he also joined up with Racing 92’s academy.
When the route to the first team there became too congested, Johnson took himself to Vannes to get game-time in ProD2 for three years. Last summer he made the switch to Oyonnax in the Top14, another important step in his development.
Johnson could have, in theory, played international rugby for France, Wales or England but it was his Bathgate-born dad, Paul, who had the loudest say in his son’s international prospects.
And Johnson, who turned 25 this week, admits other options were never likely to be considered once Scotland first showed an interest.
Capped previously at under-20 level, Gregor Townsend has included the second row as one of 10 uncapped players for the summer tour, something his old man is naturally over the moon about.
READ MORE: Ten uncapped players named in Scotland squad for summer tour
“I could have [played for other countries],” he says. “But for me it’s always been about Scottish rugby because my old man is the one who always drove the rugby into us.
"He’s rugby-mad, he grew up in Bathgate, so it was always going to be Scottish rugby really - I didn’t have a choice, to be honest!
“My old man played rugby too and if you listen to him he should be here instead of me! Him and my two brothers are massively proud of everything that I’ve done and hopefully everything that I will do. It kind of goes around in a circle as, whatever they decide to do, I’ll be fully behind them as well.
“My brothers play fourth division now, but obviously the standard of rugby in France is crazy. They’re just creeping into that professional world, so they’re both really enjoying their rugby as well.”
International recognition was something Johnson had hoped would materialise after signing for Oyonnax, where Rory Sutherland was a team-mate last season and where Oli Kebble will join him in the scrum next year.
READ MORE: Oli Kebble heading for France after Glasgow Warriors exit
“I’ve always wanted to [play for Scotland] but the big thing is when it goes from being a dream to a goal,” he adds.
“At the start of the season I spoke to the coaches at Oyonnax and said it was a goal to get Test match rugby, whether this year or next year. I just wanted them to know that it was something I wanted to do. Luckily enough it came this season.
“The couple of days after I found out [about the call-up] were a bit of a blur to be honest. It all came pretty fast but obviously it’s a huge privilege and honour for me.
"Hopefully I can get my first cap in the next couple of weeks.”
Racing 92 provided the best grounding any young player could ask for and Johnson admits it has stood him in good stead later in life.
“It was crazy. I’d come from the fifth division under-18s to go into their academy and it was bananas. The facilities are next level.
"The first week I was there I had lunch beside Dan Carter, kind of by accident.
"It was the last seat available so I sat there and I had this massive feeling of ‘what am I doing here?’
“But if I had stayed there I would have just been making up the numbers and wouldn’t have got a lot of game-time as obviously it’s one of the best clubs in the world and they’ve got a lot of big players. So I don’t know if I had played as much there.
“I dropped a division and went to Vannes for the next three seasons. Personally that was the best decision I could have made. I played quite a few games there and then this season I’ve been playing in Top 14 playing against massive players like Antoine Dupont. There’s no better way to learn than on the field against them.”
International rugby holds no fears for Johnson either.
READ MORE: Ten takeaways from Scotland's summer tour squad
He added: “There are 10 boys who have never been capped so a lot of us are in the same boat.
"They throw information at you at 100 miles per hour but it’s always pretty low-key so if you don’t understand it, you get time to go over it.
"The standard’s obviously very high but if you need extra time to get your role right, it’s pretty simple.”
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