The Scarlets back row man, king of the turnovers in the Guinness PRO14, had been included in the initial Welsh squad for the autumn internationals. It was due to be his time to shine after knocking so hard on the door for so long.
But a hamstring injury picked up in Glasgow a few days before the Welsh squad was due to meet up meant his dream of getting capped had to be put on hold.
“I picked up the injury in Glasgow and missed out on a Wales shot. It just wasn’t my time,” said a philosophical Macleod.
“But I got my head stuck into my rehab in the gym and I’m slowly getting back to feeling better than ever. I just need to get back onto the pitch and back to performing well.”
The first steps in that process were taken in Bath last weekend when he came on in the 55th minute to replace Jac Morgan. Having survived those frantic final 15 minutes to help his side win 23-19, he is now hoping for more time to impress against Toulon in another vital Heineken Champions Cup clash at Parc y Scarlets on Friday night.
A good European campaign should help his chances of regaining his place in Wayne Pivac’s squad for the 2021 Six Nations. That will be his goal, but Macleod hasn’t been dwelling on his injury or misfortune.
“When I was lying in bed at the Vale of Glamorgan Hotel that night after travelling back form Glasgow I was thinking things could have been slightly different for the upcoming week,” he said.
“But if you take too much time to reflect on things like that you are never going to move forward. I knew then I had to get stuck into my rehab and be as positive as I could about it to ensure that if the chance comes again I will be fighting fit to take it.
“My main aim was to rehab and be as professional as possible about it. I suffered quite a few injury blows when I was younger, so I’ve built up a certain level of resilience. That’s not to say I wasn’t disappointed – it did hit me for six – but these things are going to happen.
“The S&C coach at the Scarlets has been awesome with the work he has done with me over 10 weeks and that has enabled me to return quicker than predicted.
Josh Macleod hasn’t been dwelling on his injury or misfortune
“Getting back to where I was became a big motivating factor for me when I got injured. Don’t slack off on any aspect, just try to play the rugby I was playing.”
It was going to be tough to get into the Wales team in the first instance with the likes of Justin Tipuric, Josh Navidi, Aaron Wainwright, Ross Moriarty, Shane Lewis-Hughes and clubmate James Davies all in the running for the No 6 and 7 jerseys.
Now he can add in Botham, with clubmate Jac Morgan also building a reputation for himself during the time he has been on the sidelines post-Glasgow.
“It is nice for boys to get opportunities like that at the top level of the game. I was gutted it wasn’t me, but I will just keep working hard,” added Macleod.
“They have definitely put their hand up and if my opportunity comes in the future, then excellent. If not I will just keep doing my thing behind the scenes to try to get there one day.”
