Before rugby captured his full attention, Blyth-Lafferty was all set for a career in plumbing, a plan that changed overnight. "I was planning on leaving school at 16 to do plumbing and heating," he recollected. "I had a start day lined up, I had my own tool bag ready to go, and then I got offered a senior academy contract with Edinburgh."
"I couldn’t go into plumbing."
The decision to stick with rugby wasn't taken lightly. During his school years, Blyth-Lafferty balanced his budding rugby interests with a burgeoning plumbing career. However, his involvement with Edinburgh's junior academy and training stints with the Boroughmuir Bears Super6 team gradually tilted his preferences towards the rugby field.
Rugby runs in the Blyth-Lafferty family, with Ollie's father and elder brother, Jerry, both having played for Boroughmuir. The brothers, who shared numerous sports activities throughout their childhood, now find themselves not only family but also roommates. Ollie, the younger brother, amusingly finds himself as Jerry's landlord, a situation that brings its own dynamic. "It hurts when I have to pay him on the first of every month," Jerry joked.
Blyth-Lafferty's rugby career meanwhile, has been on a rapid ascent. He captained Scotland U20s, starred in 15 matches for Edinburgh, and even featured in the Champions Cup. His debut against Toulon's experienced Jean-Baptiste Gros was nothing short of impressive. Despite his success, it wasn't always smooth sailing for the young prop. Ollie faced a significant setback when World Rugby laws prevented him from playing just because he was 17 at the time.
"I still have nightmares about that," Blyth-Lafferty lamented. "All that hard work."
Despite the initial frustrations, Blyth-Lafferty has continued to focus on strengthening his scrummaging skills, a trait he finely displayed during a stint with Scotland U20s in Georgia. His dominance in set-piece scenarios and robust play have made him a strong candidate for future national selection, as his career continues to unfold with promise and expectation.
As Blyth-Lafferty navigates the challenges of professional rugby and adulthood, his journey from a potential plumber to a rugby pro remains a compelling testament to the unpredictable twists of fate and choice, proving that sometimes, life indeed throws a scrum instead of a wrench.
