Experience will aid Samson's development

The 21-year-old scrum-half won an unexpected promotion for the January 2 clash with Glasgow at Murayfield after a virus saw original starter Greg Laidlaw join skipper Mike Blair on the sidelines.

Samson, who arrived at his hometown club from the Newcastle Falcons Academy last year, couldn't prevent the Scottish capital outfit from slipping to a second successive loss to their national rivals but he believes both he and his team-mates will learn from the defeat.

"We have a lot to learn from the last two matches and I by no means had a great game as I expect my standards to be higher," said the former Scotland U-20 star.

"But we'll all learn from talking with coaches and looking at DVDs. Whatever lies ahead for me personally I can draw on now having had a full outing."

Prior to Saturday's match, Samson's only Magners League appearance had come as a late replacement against the same opposition at Firhill a week earlier.

And despite admitting that his chance for a full 80 minutes took him entirely by surprise having had no idea that he would be wearing the No9 shirt until a couple of hours before kick-off, Samson has no intention of getting carried away with the step up in his young career.

"I was on auto-pilot," Samson told the Scotsman.

"I arrived and headed for the peg I was expecting to use with my name displayed alongside the No.20 sub's jersey, only it wasn't there.

"It was really exciting to think I would be playing up against Cus (Chris Cusiter) and I wasn't nervous in just looking forward to that challenge. I wasn't fazed but the reality is that Cus and I hardly saw much of each other the way the game unfolded.

"I'm sure Greig and maybe even Mike will be back for Saturday's home match with the Blues and, so far as I'm concerned, that's all part of the swings and roundabouts of professional rugby.

"The previous year started with me playing for Tynedale while attached to the Newcastle Academy then along came the chance to join my hometown club. So, I'm aware of how much things can change in a relatively short time."