Glasgow will go into the two derby games to re-launch the season without Leone Nakarawa, Kyle Steyn and Aki Seiuli to build on new head coach Danny Wilson’s recruitment restrictions because of COVID-19.
Only the first game counts towards the 1872 Cup, it was clarified yesterday, being the third and deciding meeting of Glasgow and Edinburgh this season, and the Warriors will be the “designated home team” at BT Murrayfield.
It’s apparently hoped that the Scottish Government may agree to the second game a week on Friday having some sort of limited live audience, and therefore that’s to be the Edinburgh home game with the “local” season tickets being valid.
In the meantime, Wilson is going to have to be creative at full-back, where he was not permitted to seek a replacement for the retiring Ruaridh Jackson because of the recruitment block at Scottish Rugby, and will also be without Nakarawa, who is still in Fiji.
“Leone and his wife’s first baby was due the end of July and we allowed him grace to be there and spent more time with his family,” he said. “The first flights out of Fiji after lockdown are only this week, I believe.
“It’s fair to say he won’t play for a while. Players are going to have to get time to return to training, to return to rugby and be safe. We’re in the process of getting Leone back.”
Centre/wing Steyn has a hamstring injury that while still being assessed, will certainly mean he doesn’t play either of the first two games, while dynamic prop Seiuli broke his thumb in training, and will also not feature.
Wilson has appointed Scotland hooker Fraser Brown to be co-captain with Ryan Wilson, which he feels will be a good fit when the full squad are available and when the internationals are away so much in the upcoming season.
This season, as we know, has changed quite dramatically over the last few weeks from the announcement of the international period which will make it like no other,” said Wilson. “We’re going to lose our Scotland players for eight weeks before Christmas, and then again post-Christmas for the Six Nations.
“I think we have two excellent candidates there. Ryan wasn’t in the last selected Scotland squad, while Fraser was and part of the leadership group, so we know that we are going to lose him for a fair period of time.”
The different personalties of the players make for a good fit, he believes.
“Fraser and Ryan complement each other in terms of their leadership styles, that’s another key part of this,” he continued. “Ryan is a jack-the-lad type, he’s very popular with the group, he gets up morale, he adds humour where it needs to be added and he drives standards.
“Then you’ve got Fraser who is extremely on top of standards, studies the game inside out and is a key decision-maker in terms of how the flow of the game is going.
“Ryan’s got real good relationship skills and emotional intelligence around how players are feeling – he’s got his finger on the pulse from that point of view.”
The co-captain’s character is also a huge benefit on the pitch as well as off it.
“There are two sides to Ryan’s love of winding-up. He winds up the squad and the staff left, right and centre with practical jokes, then on game day he’s got that edge to him and the ability to get under people’s skin.
“I still think that is an important part of the game. The tactical and technical stuff is really important, but motivation and energy is massive, and Ryan bring both of those things.”
Edinburgh have had the mob hand over Glasgow in recent times, especially at Murrayfield, and the new head coach has his views on why that’s been.
Why have Edinburgh had the edge in recent seasons? How can you combat it?
“Both team have pretty potent squads,” he said. “Cockers has done an outstanding job at Edinburgh in terms of developing those guys over the past few years.
“I think they are two very different and unique styles of play and over the years, they’ve probably been opposites.
“Edinburgh would play a lot within structure and be extremely physical; Glashow would try and play on top, at speed and maybe not as structured.
“But what you’ve seen from Edinburgh over the while is that they’ve developed their game to be able to play at speed as well, so they’ve become quite a potent weapon and there’s a fair bit to deal with in terms of all their firepower.
“But likewise Glasgow have got an identity which I’ve said I want to stick to. It’s an identity that suits the players and suits the supporters.”
