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'More serious' - Glasgow issue brutal Adam Hastings update
By Bryn Palmer
Glasgow head coach Franco Smith has confirmed he expects to be without Scotland fly-half Adam Hastings for at least the next three months.
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The 28-year-old Warrior has undergone successful surgery on a fractured jaw suffered in last Friday’s URC victory over Scarlets, after being hit by Vaea Fifita.
It is the latest in a series of injury setbacks for the former Gloucester playmaker, who will miss the entire pool stages of Glasgow’s European Champions Cup campaign – which starts at home against Sale on Saturday – and almost certainly at least the first two games of the Six Nations Championship, if not more.
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It was the second head knock Hastings has suffered this season, having been forced off after failing an HIA on his first start since returning the club, against Benetton back in late September, which kept him out of the following URC match against Cardiff.
Smith visited Hastings in hospital last Saturday and was able to welcome the player back to Scotstoun on Thursday after his surgery.
“It was more serious than we thought after the game, and then he had the operation,” reported the head coach. “He was back in the building yesterday to say hi to everybody, and he looks good. The operation was obviously a success. It’s now just time.
“I’m glad in a way that it’s also a bone break so that he can completely recover from the concussion that he’s had. The length of time that he’s out will obviously then be important also from the concussion perspective”.
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Smith said the prognosis for Hastings, who started Scotland’s autumn Tests against Fiji and Portugal last month, is an absence of “at least a three-month period, an eight to 12-week period at least.”
“Anything before, we’ll be really grateful and happy to have him,” he explained. With those things, it’s all about confidence, getting back into the contact environment, so it’s not just the healing process that’s important.
“It’s also the technical work and the confidence that he’s got to get back into a contact sport that’s going to probably lengthen the period. But hopefully, we’ll get him back within the prescribed period.”
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Tom Jordan will revert to No.10 on Saturday in a powerful Glasgow backline expected to be further bolstered in the coming weeks by the return of full-back Ollie Smith – out for a year with an ACL knee injury – and captain Kyle Steyn.
Smith’s options in the second row have been depleted by the departure of Richie Gray to Japan, the continued absence of JP du Preez – also on the way back from a serious knee injury – and the injuries picked up by Max Williamson and Gregor Brown on Scotland duty last month.
Smith had contemplated signing an extra lock as cover – Scarlets’ Scotland cap Alex Craig was reportedly on the verge of heading to Scotstoun – but has opted against a new recruit for the time being.
“We had a specific person in mind, and it didn’t work out for now,” he explained. “With a European competition, you must contract people for at least three months to have them part of the competition. So we want the right person, not any person, to come into the environment.
“At the moment, it’s just an awkward period, so it does feel like our resources are not enough. But in a month’s time, everybody will be back on their feet. And then a guy that we bring in might be at the back end of the queue, and we would not be able to keep the promises that were made to get the player in the building. So for now we’re going to keep on looking for the right guy going forward.”
For Saturday’s clash with Sale, Smith has handed only a second senior start to 6ft 8in, 120kg Nigerian lock Jare Oguntibeju, a 22-year-old former Scotland Under-20s star raised in Edinburgh and South Africa who made his Warriors debut against Scarlets last week after completing his recovery over recent months from a serious knee injury.
“We brought him in for a training camp at the end of last season and immediately we said we need to work with him,” Smith explained. “Obviously, he’s had a big toe injury and then a big knee injury that we’ve now conditioned through the medical department and the S&C guys have done a great job on him.
“From a rugby perspective, he’s also growing. He’s a later arrival to the game, but he’s learned, he’s intelligent and he’s trying to step up every day.
“It’s going to be a big challenge for him as it is for everybody. But like I did with (hooker) Gregor Hiddleston against Exeter last year and (locks) Alex Samuel and Max Williamson, when the time is right and there’s enough players of quality around a young player like that, it allows us to bring these young people through.”
Smith believes the “hurt” from going out to Harlequins at the last-16 stage of the Champions Cup last season – after leading in the 78th minute – served as inspiration for Glasgow to knuckle down and go on to win the URC title in stunning style.
They will revisit the Twickenham Stoop in January to face Quins in their final pool game, after a trip to France to face Toulon next week and a home fixture with Racing 92 in the new year.
While Smith is keen for his players to build on last season’s league triumph with a strong run in Europe’s elite competition, he has played down suggestions they could be dark horses for the title.
“Well, I don’t want the expectation to influence what we try to do here,” he added. “Yes, the squad needs to kick on in every game that we play. The quality of the players and the way they’ve developed, the way they work at their game and the influence that the internationals had on their experience obviously is important. We need to continue evolving and growing and continue adding value to the squad in various ways.
“The Champions Cup is a massive competition to play in as well as the URC, but there’s something special about playing the French and the Premiership sides. So definitely one of the objectives is to perform as best as we can in this competition.”
Glasgow Warriors team v Sale Sharks:
Josh McKay; Sebastian Cancelliere, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu (capt), Kyle Rowe, Tom Jordan, George Horne; Jamie Bhatti, Gregor Hiddleston, Zander Fagerson, Jare Oguntibeju, Scott Cummings, Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge, Henco Venter.
Replacements: Johnny Matthews, Rory Sutherland, Sam Talakai, Alex Samuel, Ally Miller, Jack Mann, Jamie Dobie, Duncan Weir.
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