Thank god my partner made me go to the doctor, I told her I was fine but it turned out I had a tumour on my head! REVEALED: The rugby coach who has twice been diagnosed with cancer and kept it a secret from his players

Being told you have cancer once is devastating enough. Being diagnosed for a second time is unthinkable.

Bryan Easson at least realises how lucky he was that, on both occasions, it was caught early enough to be treated.

Now that he has left his job as Scotland women’s rugby head coach, the 52-year-old has revealed to Daily Mail Sport how, unbeknownst to his players, he was suffering from skin cancer while helping them win their first major silverware at the WXV2 tournament in South Africa two years ago.

Easson kept the situation largely under wraps, with only his employers at Scottish Rugby aware of the situation.

It was a second diagnosis for the former Exeter Chiefs fly-half, who had a testicle removed in his mid-20s.

And he confessed that, if it hadn’t been for his partner, he might never have gone to the doctor and realised the potentially fatal condition had already taken hold.

‘Thank god for Carolyn,’ said Easson. ‘I had this thing on my head that was like a sore. Having thin hair turned out to be a blessing, as Carolyn spotted it and said I needed to get it seen to. I was like: “I’m fine”. However, it turned out to be a tumour.

‘I had two small cancers taken away, but there was another one which was much bigger, and that required a skin graft from my shoulder. I’ve now got a large dent on my head as a result.’

Being told you have cancer for a second time in your life can’t be easy.

‘Yes, you worry a little bit more about your prospects, and you worry if it has spread elsewhere,’ said Easson. ‘Thankfully, that didn’t happen.’

He informed Scottish Rugby about his diagnosis but most of his team remained unaware, with the head coach wearing caps to conceal his wounds as he guided the players to victory in the inaugural WXV2 tournament in Cape Town.

It marked a seminal moment for the national side, who defeated South Africa, the USA and Japan on their way to the title.

‘I had to tell Scottish Rugby because of what I was getting done,’ said Easson. ‘It was going to be pretty obvious. It was quite a big surgery that was required.

‘I don’t know if the girls suspected anything. There were possibly a few that knew. I just cracked on with it. I’ve never been one for sympathy. The most important thing in my job has never been me, it’s about making other people better.’

This stoicism was born, in part, from his previous encounter with cancer at the age of 25.

‘I’d been playing for Exeter Chiefs when I got a pretty hard kick in between my legs. That happens in sport. But next morning there was a large swelling, and I thought: “That’s not right”. I went to the team doctor, had an ultrasound, and he said: “Oh mate, you’ve got something going on in there”.

‘I was actually really lucky because, if I hadn’t had that kick, who knows what would have happened? So I saw him on the Sunday, had the ultrasound on the Monday, and had my testicle removed on the Tuesday. It was quite a big lump, but I hadn’t noticed because there really wasn’t much awareness of these things at the time.

‘Plus, I was only young at the time. There was an element of embarrassment about it. When I went to have my op, I walked into the ward and didn’t want anybody to come with me. I just said: “No I’m doing this myself”.

‘I ended up in a ward of six, and I was put in the middle bed. This guy beside me goes: “What are you in for then, son?” And I’m thinking: “I’m getting one of my bollocks removed, but I don’t want to say anything to anyone”. I told him I was a rugby player and I was just in because I had a groin injury. As soon as that came out of my mouth, the surgeon walked in and said: “Right, Mr Easson, we’re going to take your testicle out.”

‘It was mortifying, but then something happened that will live with me forever. There was a South African guy diagonally across from me, and the surgeon came in with two other doctors and told him he didn’t have long to live. I remember the guy crying and saying all he wanted to do was “smell the flowers”. It was probably the first time it really hit me what this was all about.

‘I realised I was really lucky. I didn’t have to have any radiotherapy or anything like that, but I still didn’t really talk about it until I moved to a job with Scottish Rugby, in the Highlands.’

It was there that Easson, realised he could use his experience to help others.

‘I was at Highland Rugby Club and their head of youth rugby told me one of their young kids had been diagnosed with testicular cancer. That was the first time I thought I might be able to help someone else. I sat with the boy and his family and that was the start of raising awareness, and doing talks about my own experience.

‘Vulnerability is a good thing. It allows honesty, and that allows trust. Talking about cancer made it a lot easier for me. It doesn’t matter how strong you are, how successful you are. When a doctor tells you you have cancer, it’s absolutely brutal. I don’t believe anyone that tells you otherwise. When I was first told, it blew my mind.’

Easson hopes that, by talking about his own diagnosis, others will check themselves and be confident to come forward with concerns.

Now looking fit and well, he’s open to returning to rugby should the right opportunity come along.

Coaching another nation would not be off the table and he’s ‘itching’ to get going again.

News that he was leaving after this year's Rugby World Cup, having worked with the SRU for 25 years, emerged just weeks before the tournament kicked off.

That was controversial enough, but coincided with an untimely period of uncertainty for the Scotland players over contracts which contributed to an unsettled and frustrated camp.

Despite all of that, his team reached the quarter finals where they were knocked out by hosts and eventual champions England

Easson left by ‘mutual agreement’ but many of his players felt aggrieved by his sudden exit and the way it had been handled by the SRU.

‘As a coach, it was frustrating that these negotiations were getting done at that particular time,’ he said.

‘Players were having conversations or looking at their futures while in the middle of a massive tournament.

‘But that’s in the gift of Scottish Rugby, they can do whatever they want. From my point of view, we led a programme, got to two World Cups, rode the crest of a wave and got to the knockout stages. The leadership team around me were brilliant, and just shut off the noise and got on with it.

‘The players felt disruption, yes, because some were looking for jobs during the competition. Some were thinking, right, what am I going to do next? But, as leaders, we tried not to allow that to seep into the team environment.’

How does he feel now about the experience?

‘A huge amount of pride. This is probably the first time in 25 years I’ve properly sat back and reflected.

‘We built Scotland women from 13th in the world to fifth. It was an amateur set up, and now it’s professional.

‘At the World Cup, there was a real feeling of togetherness, the right people around you. Everyone was pulling towards the same goal and, to be a part of that, to lead that, was very, very special.

‘There were difficult moments - particularly the death of Siobhan Cattigan (the Scotland player who passed away in 2021 following a series of traumatic brain injuries). That was probably the worst time in my entire working career.  I can’t even imagine what her parents went through and my thoughts are always with them. It was also very hard for the players, many of them were very close to Siobhan.’

Since then, Scottish women’s rugby has gone through a significant period of change, with a focus on player welfare. There is also a new managing director and a new head of women’s performance and pathways.

A search for a new Scotland head coach is still under way. Easson believes the time is ripe for progression - as long as investment in the women’s game continues.

‘That’s critical. As for what we achieved? I can look back and go: “We did alright’.

‘Scotland did a lot for me, and I worked with some really good people. I’d take another coaching job, but it would have to be with an organisation that is really ambitious. Somewhere you can grow.

‘Subconsciously, cancer changes your perspective on life. I don’t think I ever thought I was close to dying, but it makes you realise that life is for living. You get one shot at it. Get the people around you who want to be around you. Do the things you want to do. I definitely think about things a little bit more now.

‘Maybe it’s an age thing as well, but I’ve realised it’s important not to sweat the small stuff. Control what you can control.. Do what you want to do. Don’t just get stuck in the rat race. And, crucially, don’t get institutionalised.’