Alex Dunbar seemed to barely entertain the possibility of taking his career abroad with his contentment at Glasgow and Scotland making it an easy decision to sign on for two more years.
The probable inside centre for Scotland against Ireland in Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations opener against Ireland, the 26-year-old has missed too much time to injury in his last two years but is seeing the benefit of a concerted run for club and country.
That enjoyment, the success of reaching the quarter-finals in Europe and colleagues like Stuart Hogg, Tommy Seymour and Henry Pyrgos all agreeing to stay with the Warriors before his deal was finalised was enough.
“We are playing so well just now,” he reasoned. “We have a very settled squad and a lot of young boys coming through so for me it was an easy decision in the end.
“It is not just the guys who’ve extended recently, it is everyone. We are quite driven to succeed and I think in the next few years we could really push ourselves on.”
There was interest in Dunbar from England and France but his focus didn’t waver from the forthcoming dates in the 6 Nations and the European Champions Cup.
“There was interest but I am happy with my decision to stay,” he said. “I am looking forward to getting through the Six Nations and getting back to doing something special with Glasgow.”
Dunbar has been the lynchpin for Scotland when available, a defensive leader and ball carrier in the backs, and he’s quite ready for whichever partner the coaches look to pair him with.
“We have such great strength in depth. Matty (Scott) has started the season well with Gloucester, Huw Jones had a great autumn internationals. Mark (Bennett) has been playing well lately too,” he said.
“We have to keep training hard and keep putting pressure on each other to improve. There is a good buzz in the squad and everyone is confident, we just need to knuckle down and get stuck in.”
For the Irish, Scotland will have learned from Glasgow’s three meetings with Munster this season.
“The physical edge will have prepared us,” continued Dunbar. “It was a couple of gruelling games we played against them but we are going to have to go even higher than that.
“They have a lot of great players who are playing well but we have to impose themselves on them.
£We have developed as a whole squad. Now we go into every game a lot more competitive than we did in years gone by.”
Dunbar’s new deal will take him to a full decade with Glasgow, the Dumfries-born player having played at all levels for Glasgow from Under-14s up.
“It’s great news that Alex will be staying in Glasgow for at least another two years,” said head coach Gregor Townsend.
“He has worked hard to improve his game – and has come back from some untimely injuries – to become an important player for the club.
“His ability to play equally well at 12 and 13 has enabled him to strike up effective partnerships with the other centres we have in our squad.
“This is another boost for us, with a number of players having already signed up beyond this season.”
