After being drafted in this week as a replacement for the Ospreys trio of injured tight-heads, New Zealander Campbell Johnstone has revealed he is nervous and excited ahead of his regional debut in the Heineken Cup away to French giants Toulouse at the weekend.
“It’s been an interesting few days for me” he admitted.
“I’m pretty excited about everything, a little bit nervous if I’m honest. It’s a big game for the Ospreys on Saturday and a big one for me personally, coming in at a few days notice.
“There’s been a bit of bad luck here with tight heads, I hope it doesn’t continue! It’s important for the team that the guys come back from injury quickly so that the team can get back up to full strength quickly. In the meantime I’ll do what I can to fill that gap as best I can.”
The former All Black and Crusaders prop, who spent four years in France with Biarritz before leaving in the summer, acknowledged that his move to the Ospreys came out of the blue and he hadn’t expected to be going back into Heineken Cup action this month.
“Definitely not” he laughed.
“I was enjoying a bit of quality time when the opportunity came up. It was a bit of a shock, I never expected to be rolling up in Toulouse with the Ospreys for such a big match. I’m looking forward to it.
“Toulouse are always one of the top French teams and it’s never easy there. You could say it’s a big game to be thrown into but we’ll see how it goes. Training has been good, the boys have welcomed me in and it’s going to be a busy few days of preparation, to get up to speed on calls, moves and tactics.
“I’m very excited about the chance and hopefully the team can play to the best of our ability and put in a good performance. It won’t be easy but if we can do that, who knows what could happen?”