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Gloucester claim Adam Hastings a better player for having left Glasgow
Gloucester attack coach Alex King believes Adam Hastings’ switch to the Premiership has taken him out of his “comfort zone” and boosted his chances of wearing the Scotland No10 jersey in the Six Nations championship.
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Hastings move to Gloucester this season has given him a high profile platform plus the added support of fellow Scottish international Chris Harris who has become one of the world’s leading centres in Gloucester colours having started to make an impact at Newcastle in the Premiership.
King, the former England outside half, has been impressed by Hastings’ desire to improve his game and with Racing 92’s Finn Russell in pole position and young Ross Thompson having made his Scotland debut in the Autumn Nations series against Tonga, the battle for the No.10 jersey under head coach Gregor Townsend is going to be crucial in their Six Nations campaign.
Hastings, 25, has won 24 Scotland caps and has amassed 82 Premiership points with Gloucester this season helping the club move into fourth place as they prepare to take on second placed Saracens at the StoneX stadium on Saturday.
It will be the latest challenge Hastings must overcome having battled it out with England’s multi-talented Marcus Smith with Harlequins snatching a 20-17 win on the new artificial pitch at Kingsholm. King is convinced the quality of opponents Hastings is having to tackle will fast track his improvement and said: “Adam is out of his comfort zone in a tough league and as a No.10 you play a huge part in the outcome of the game.”
“He works incredibly hard with the mid-field backs to drive the team forward and one of the things that brought him to the Premiership was the challenge of becoming a better player and we have seen that with Finn Russell at Racing 92. He is now a better player for Scotland and Adam will benefit from being in the Premiership and will also become a better player for Gregor to hopefully pick him for the Six Nations – either in the squad or starting depending on how Finn is playing.
“Adam joined us this year and really bought into what we are doing and brings a wealth of experience from playing for Glasgow and Scotland and he is really relishing the tactical challenges the Premiership throws up. Last week it was Marcus Smith and this time it is Alex Goode and every week is another tactical battle with class players.”
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Gloucester have scored more than 75 per cent of their tries this season from the line out with their driving maul one of the most effective in the Premiership. King knows that Saracens will try and negate this points earning machine and added: “Even though the maul is a weapon you have to play a bit of chess as well and more strings to your bow with the way opponents defend it. Teams will spend a lot of time analysing the maul and if you can move them one way and attack a different space it keeps the defence guessing. It is about giving the team the best chance to attack.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Jordie knows that he has to earn the right to put on the jersey, whatever that jersey might be.
4 Go to commentsThe best outside centre in the world at one point. He will be greatly missed.
2 Go to commentsYip his great for the big moments when needed as a safa really enjoy watching him
4 Go to commentsOne that will start to come up from now on is penalties for back pushes during kick chase scrambles. Very difficult to detect. In Croke Park if you replay the Hendy NH try, you will see Furbank push Porter in the back, who collides with Larmour knocking the ball across into Hendy’s path to dot down. A more significant example was in the RWC QTR final where Arendse pushes Fickou into two other French players for the ball to spill into Arendse’s path for him to gather and run in to score SAs first try. Not cheating if you are not caught and very difficult to spot but with kicking becoming so critical I feel its an area that will referreeed/TMO-ed more.
3 Go to commentsWhat a pathetic little twit Andy Goode is, as if we care what he thinks…..😂
115 Go to commentsFoxy has been a wonderful player for the Scarlets and Wales.
2 Go to commentsNika the Georgian is the best referee in the world at the moment. Luckily we will be spared the shite SH refs and Barnes will hopefully remain retired given how shite and embarrassing he was at the RWC.
3 Go to commentsThis is the most exciting game of the summer imo, as we really won’t know in advance how both teams are going to play. - Will Robertson just reproduce his Crusaders tactics from last year, or will there be a conscious effort to borrow from the Hurricanes and Blues, and from the aspects of the ABs world cup strategy that worked well? - England under Borthwick have put in some good performances playing attacking rugby, and some good performances playing kick-oriented defensive rugby. Will Borthwick try to merge them together into a single all-court game, or will he continue switching between different approaches depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition?
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
9 Go to commentsFinals are always tense affairs for the players so I do not expect this to be a spectacle of running rugby unfortunately.
3 Go to commentsBulls***': Ex-England international calls out Eben Etzebeth… Not to his face but from very far away… after he’d left. Checked to make sure he wasn’t in the building.
115 Go to commentsHopefully this will mean a new Auckland league team to support in the west. Big Warriors fan but it’s very, very stale on that front and I’d like the option of another team if it was to watch league again. League needs to step up BIG time if its to get anywhere, another AK team and something from the capitol or south is a must for the game.
3 Go to commentsGood, deep interview, nice job Frankie!
1 Go to commentsNRL players don’t have anywhere near the number of Tests. Some people would be happy having Rest Homes full if 40 yo ex-players walking, or hobbling more like it, into walls. It’s just a game!
4 Go to commentsNOW Razor is worried about ABs getting injured or overplayed! Didn’t bother him last year. He happily played his AB Crusaders.
4 Go to commentsWhat is the World Rugby U20 players born year.
2 Go to commentsMuch like the Chiefs finally gave up waiting for Atu Moli to ever not be injured, you have to wonder if the Chiefs and Crusaders will let Josh Lord and Ethan Blackadder go next season. They’re being well paid to sit in the injury ward every year. Better off putting those funds towards someone who might actually play.
7 Go to commentsShowed better basic skills than some nz Super sides, who probably would have botched some of those backline moves. This tournament really is too short though. Needs more teams, or have them play two rounds to properly prepare them for the near full-time NH U20 sides.
4 Go to commentsGood grief it’s only six months. Probably just upset it’s not an established kiwi entering their prime they can “project” into green to join the rest.
4 Go to comments