'I couldn’t let him away with that': Hastings on 'nepo baby' Lancaster

Adam Hastings has welcomed the arrival of fellow ‘nepo baby’ Dan Lancaster to Glasgow – despite a fresh challenge to his hopes of a regular run at No.10 to boost his Scotland prospects.

Hastings, who turns 29 on Sunday, returned to Scotstoun in the summer of 2024 after three years at Gloucester but had to share Warriors fly-half duties last season with Tom Jordan, both players starting 11 matches apiece in the pivotal playmaking role.

With the versatile Jordan’s departure to Bristol this summer, Hastings now has a new No.10 rival in the shape of Lancaster, who is already on Gregor Townsend’s Scotland radar after an impressive season in adversity in Paris.

While Charlie Savala, signed from Northampton to help cover the loss of Jordan, is likely to miss most of the season with an ACL knee injury, the continued presence of veteran Duncan Weir and the emergence of Scotland Under-20s fly-half Matthew Urwin is set to keep Hastings and Lancaster on their toes.

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“It’s always good,” said Hastings. “We’ve got good competition now in the 10s, obviously with Duncy (Weir) as well and Matty Urwin coming through – he was brilliant in his U20s stuff last year.

“It’s been good, I’ve enjoyed getting to know Dan. He’s gelled really well to be fair to him. He said it himself, it was probably good the internationals were away [in the early part of pre-season] so it meant he connected with the younger boys as well. Then with us coming in, he’s gelled really well. The boys have taken to him; he’s a good lad.”

The 24-year-old son of former England coach Stuart Lancaster made his competitive Warriors debut in their opening URC win over Sharks last Friday, given first chance in the No.10 jersey.

Hastings, who replaced Lancaster for a five-minute spell early on when he suffered a blood injury before taking over for the final 10 minutes, was given the task of handing Lancaster his Warriors cap in the dressing room after the game.

“It was cool; I’ve never handed one out before, so it was nice to be able to do that. It’s been good to get to know him and he’s a proper good lad, so I’m glad he’s in the building with us.”

Not that Hastings, the son of Scotland legend Gavin, was going to let the moment pass without reference to Lancaster’s own famous father, referring to him as a “fellow nepo baby”.

“I had to – I couldn’t let him away with that!” he said. “I get more abuse than him for that, so it’s about time he got some.”

After an injury-ravaged time at Gloucester, Hastings was concussed after a late hit in the first start of his second spell at Glasgow against Benetton 12 months ago, before a nasty jaw fracture in late November caused him to miss eight Warriors games – and the Six Nations – during three months on the sidelines.

But he still managed 17 outings overall for Glasgow and was picked as one of two specialist 10s for Scotland’s summer tour of New Zealand.

After starting a memorable non-cap win over the Maori, he had to settle for a place on the bench for the Tests against Fiji and Samoa, with Saracens’ Fergus Burke handed the No.10 jersey.

“Look, obviously you want to play as many games as possible, but I understand as well there were certain opportunities for other boys, which is OK,” said Hastings, who has won 33 caps over a stop-start Test career since 2018.

“Some things are out of your hands. I was trying to play and train as well as I could. I had some honest conversations with Gregor and there’s no bad blood there. I understood his choices and it was important for me to come off the bench and do my thing, and I felt I did that.

A special moment for Dan on Friday 🎉#WhateverItTakes ⚔️🛡️ pic.twitter.com/mce94urgCe

— Glasgow Warriors (@GlasgowWarriors) September 29, 2025

“I’ll just try to put as many good performances together for Glasgow as possible, and hopefully put my hands up for the [autumn] internationals.”

Despite Lancaster’s own Scotland ambitions and Weir, 34, extending his career another year, Hastings is happy to take responsibility for leading the fly-half cohort at Scotstoun following Jordan’s departure, as they prepare to face Benetton in Treviso on Saturday.

“Obviously I’m nearly 29 now, which is quite scary,” he added. “I do kind of feel that way. It probably hadn’t dawned on me until maybe last year, or this year, but hopefully I’m just halfway through my career and a lot more experienced now.

“It comes with different responsibilities I suppose, whether that’s voicing your opinion a bit more – I know you do that anyway as a 10 – but it’s maybe more important now.

“It’s something you just realise over the years. Even when you’re coming through as a young kid, you have to carve your way in, especially in that 10 role; it’s something you have to do quite early on. It’s something I’ve continued to work on. It changes year on year, but I’ve definitely noticed it; I’m enjoying it.”