AT the start of the season, there were more than a few people who thought that the Glasgow Warriors would suffer a loss of form due to the absence through injury of Jonny Gray and Stuart Hogg in particular.
Let’s face it, the loss of Scotland’s best second row forward and the British Lions full-back would hamper any team, but Warriors have made an electrifying start to the season with four wins out of four to put them top of their conference in the Pro-14.
New head coach Dave Rennie has benefited from the strength in depth approach that was part of the gospel of Gregor Townsend during his time at Scotstoun. Players have come in to the first XV and looked as if they had never been away, while there was one telling moment in that thrilling victory over Munster which assured me that the Warriors will be up there challenging for the title at the end of the season.
No it wasn’t that amazing team try completed by Lee Jones, nor any of the excellent moves created by Finn Russell, but the moment when Rory Hughes had to go off injured with a head knock. On came Leonardo Sarto and the Italian winger promptly scored the first try. Can you beat that?
When you have players of that quality sitting on the bench you know that you have a very capable squad and the Warriors are going to need every man jack of them this season.
It does now look as if Alex Dunbar will be out for six weeks having had a knee operation, but Oli Kebble will be out for much longer with his foot injury, which is a real shame for the South African prop forward.
Yet even with these injuries the Warriors currently have the firepower to beat every team in the league and I would not be surprised if they do so.
And what will they do when they get Gray and Hogg, not to mention Fraser Brown, back in the team?
And in the background young Adam Hastings is making progress with his injured thigh and while I don’t believe all the hype about Russell going anywhere, at least there is cover for the No 10 jersey.
As head coach for Scotland, Gregor Townsend is taking the same strength-in-depth approach, and I expect him to use the Autumn Tests not only to blood new players but to build a squad in which every player is capable of slotting into a system of play that is successful and entertaining.
Meanwhile all the Six Nations’ unions are in a quandary over the end of the sponsorship deal with RBS.
It looks likely that the long-term deal which the Six were seeking will not materialise in time for the tournament next season, but I can report a couple of rumours of possible sponsors.
One is NatWest, the ‘other’ brand of RBS, but a name that keeps recurring in the pubs is Aon plc, the financial services behemoth who once sponsored Manchester United’s shirts and still sponsor their training complex.
They’ve got the money, for certain.
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