Warriors hope Keatley can help mentor Thompson

GLASGOW coach Danny Wilson is confident that new stand-off Ian Keatley will prove an invaluable mentor for Ross Thompson as well as making a significant individual contribution to the team.

The Warriors announced the signing of 33-year-old Keatley for the rest of the season yesterday, bringing to a successful conclusion the search for an experienced fly-half which began when Pete Horne joined Adam Hastings on the injury list.

Hastings has been out of action since October because of a shoulder injury, while Horne has been sidelined by concussion. Thompson made his first start and only second appearance for Glasgow in Saturday’s win over

Edinburgh, and although he was named man of the match, it would be a tall order to expect him to play a long run of games. Brandon Thomson, the other 10 currently on the books, is low on confidence after committing a couple of glaring errors in recent games, so Keatley can be expected to bring some muchneeded stability and experience to the position.

“Ian Keatley has been a fantastic player over the years for Munster, Connacht Benetton,” Wilson said. “Ian’s experience will be great from a performance point of view.

“He will also be invaluable to the development of our young players, including the likes of Ross Thompson, and also enable us to look at Pete [Horne] in his natural position of inside centre. We are chuffed to be able to bring someone of Ian’s quality, experience and knowledge into the squad.”

Keatley, who has seven caps for Ireland, played for Connacht, Munster and London Irish before moving to Treviso in 2019. He became an obvious signing target for Glasgow once Benetton agreed to release him from his contract earlier this month.