Scotland's Autumn handed boost as Glasgow issue 3-player update

Scotland have received a major fillip ahead of the Autumn Nations Series with a trio of Glasgow forwards taking “big steps forward” in their attempts to be available for next month’s Tests.

Key tighthead prop Zander Fagerson, who was forced to miss the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia with a calf injury before subsequently picking up a knee issue in the gym during his rehabilitation in pre-season, has not played for six months.

No.8 Jack Dempsey was on the verge of making his competitive return a fortnight ago in Glasgow’s URC opener against Sharks after six months out with a hamstring injury, before pulling out with a groin issue sustained in the warm-up.

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Flanker Rory Darge, meanwhile, sustained MCL damage in his knee against the Sharks on 26 September, with an estimated four-to-six weeks recovery time leaving him a race to be fit for the start of the series against USA on 1 November or Scotland’s biggest autumn Test against New Zealand a week later.

But Glasgow head coach Franco Smith delivered a positive bulletin on all three players on Friday, with Dempsey and Fagerson possibly in line for some game-time over the next fortnight – Glasgow have an away trip to Ospreys next weekend and a home game against Bulls on 24 October – before Scotland’s internationals get under way.

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“I’m excited,” Smith said. “All three of them have made big improvements this week, big steps forward.
“With Jack, I have just watched him run out there. He looks in good form and might be available for selection next week. We’ll obviously wait for the final clearance around that on Monday or Tuesday.

“Zander also has been training well. He’s done his RTP (return-to-play) skills and running work. He’s progressing very nicely.

“Rory Darge is out of his brace and he’s been pain-free. That leads to progression from an RTP perspective.

“So some big steps forward and a compliment to the medical team and the S&C staff that worked really hard this week to make sure those boys get a fair chance of being selected for Scotland in the autumn series.”

Fagerson’s brother Matt, who started both Glasgow’s opening URC games against Sharks and Benetton at No.8, picked up an ankle knock and misses Saturday’s home fixture against Dragons, but Smith said the back-rower was going to be rested anyway.

“If this was a semi-final or quarter-final or final (he could play),” he explained. “But it’s in the middle (of a five-week block of URC matches). All the Scottish players that have a chance to play in the autumn series will be involved in four out of the five games, to make sure we give them enough time to be fully fit, enough continuity in some cases, but also enough time to reset them before they go into the autumn Test matches. We don’t want them to play seven, eight games on the trot at the start of the season.”

Another Scotland contender, Alex Craig, a summer signing from Scarlets, will make his debut for Warriors on Saturday after shaking off a hamstring injury, joining Lion Scott Cummings in the second row.

“I’m looking forward to seeing him play,” Smith said of the 28-year-old, who won the last of his six Scotland caps against Australia last autumn. “We tried to get him here last year already and it didn’t work out that way.

“He trained really hard to get back into shape after his injury leading into the first part of the pre-season, so we’re excited to add him to the Warrior family.

“He’s a set-piece driven player. His breakdown work is really good, whether it be carrying or cleaning. Sometimes that’s what a No. 4 lock brings you. I don’t want to call him an old-school lock, but he’s a hard worker, a no-nonsense type of player. He’ll bring some grunt that we expect from that position in our team.”

There are also further opportunities against Dragons for the versatile Euan Ferrie – one of Smith’s hybrid ‘flocks’ – to start at No.8 and Maccenzie Duncan, player of the match against Benetton, at openside, while sometime Scotland full-back Ollie Smith takes over from Stafford McDowall at outside centre, where he was also deployed last season on his return from a long-term knee injury.

“He’s going to play full-back for us, he’s played on the wing – good utility,” Smith said. “It’s about having good rugby players – Stafford’s been on the side of the scrum – and having the best players out there. If they’re willing and ready to move and willing to be seen as hybrid players, people that can play different roles, it makes their chance for selection so much better. But it also enhances the chance to play for Scotland in various roles.”

One Glasgow player who hasn’t found favour with Scotland is hooker Johnny Matthews, a cult hero at Warriors having scored 48 tries in 99 games (and only 48 starts) for the club over the past five years.

Matthews, 32, finished as the URC’s top try-scorer when Glasgow won the title in 2023-24, finishing with 15 overall in 23 club games, after 13 in 19 the previous year. He added another nine last year to move joint-third on Warriors’ all-time list alongside Tommy Seymour, with just George Horne (59) and DTH van der Merwe (54) ahead of him.

But despite marking his Scotland debut with a try as a replacement against Romania at the 2023 World Cup, Matthews has only added one more cap – against Portugal last autumn – to his collection.

“I think Johnny’s a very good club player and the rare opportunities that he got to play at Test level, I think he was stressed,” Smith said. “I think the expectation around him was different.

“He could have played more Test match rugby, but he has played in an era where there were some good hookers about and they’ve had a lot of caps. I think he’s had his opportunity there but as long as he keeps on making himself better – I know he’s past the 30 mark (32) now – he’s still got enough in him to keep asking those types of questions to be able to play there.”

Matthews is sure to get a warm welcome from the Scotstoun faithful when he makes his 100th appearance for the club off the bench against the Dragons.

“People like players that score tries,” Smith added. “He doesn’t disappoint from that perspective. He’s a try-scoring machine for the club. He’s done really well at the back of the maul for us and he’s obviously added a lot of value.

“He’s an energetic person to have around the building. He had some good hookers that he started off with, between Fraser Brown and George Turner. He kept on gaining opportunities and he made full use of them.
“To get to 100 games for any player is a massive compliment, but to do it here is an extremely good achievement. The thing that stands out is that Johnny is a good person and he’s also a good influence on the group. I’m very proud of him.”

Glasgow team v Dragons:15 Josh McKay; 14 Kyle Steyn (C), 13 Ollie Smith, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Jamie Dobie; 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne; 1 Rory Sutherland, 2 Gregor Hiddleston, 3 Fin Richardson, 4 Alex Craig, 5 Scott Cummings, 6 Gregor Brown, 7 Macenzzie Duncan, 8 Euan Ferrie.

Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Patrick Schickerling, 18 Murphy Walker, 19 Alex Samuel, 20 Max Williamson, 21 Angus Fraser, 22 Ben Afshar, 23 Dan Lancaster.