Strauss sets Sale while the Warriors stall
IT WOULD be harsh in the extreme to suggest Josh Strauss is leaving a sinking ship but there is no escaping the feeling Glasgow Warriors’ Guinness Pro12 campaign is currently all at sea.
Three straight defeats in the league, all coming since the Six Nations kicked off at the start of February, have left Gregor Townsend’s men languishing in sixth place in the table, and well off the pace for a play-off spot.
A sense of injustice about their lot from within Scotstoun would not be amiss as Warriors stars such as Strauss, Stuart Hogg and Finn Russell have lit up this year’s Championship, with stirring wins over Ireland and Wales. Indeed, their absence has been keenly felt.
However, in a season of transition, as this has become for both pro clubs and country, something usually has to give.
So while Scotland have prospered in what is turning out to be Vern Cotter’s dream curtain call, Glasgow and rivals Edinburgh have struggled as they await the arrival of their respective new head coaches this summer.
While Townsend departs to take over the national side, Dave Rennie will take the reins at Warriors, with Richard Cockerill moving in to the capital hotseat.
Both men face rebuilding jobs to varying degrees, with the likes of Strauss, Gordon Reid and Mark Bennett all departing Scotstoun.
Strauss’ revelation yesterday that he only stayed as long as he did at Warriors to qualify for Scotland will hardly come as a surprise — although it will do little to temper the debate over the use of ‘project players’.
The South African-born No 8, who took advantage of the three-year residency rule, will join Sale Sharks next season, the 30-year-old revealing: ‘I signed for Glasgow (in 2012) and needed to sign for a second term in order to qualify to play for the national side. Since coming to the UK, I always had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to play in the Premiership, which is a highly-rated competition by players in South Africa.
‘I have really enjoyed my time with the Warriors but I asked my agent to look around in the Premiership for me.
‘He came back with Sale Sharks, who have a good name, a good record in the Premiership and looked an attractive proposition.’
A torn kidney has ruled Strauss out of the remaining two matches of the Six Nations and could well sideline him for the remainder of the Warriors’ campaign.
Securing a play-off spot would give him a fighting chance of saying farewell in a Glasgow shirt but, as Townsend’s assistant Mike Blair conceded yesterday, ‘something a bit special’ would be needed for that to happen.
‘As a minimum, we need to win all our games and probably pick up some bonus points as well,’ said Blair, the former Scotland skipper. ‘It is going to be a tough ask but we went on a run around this time last year and won nine on the trot to make the play-offs. It is not impossible but we are making things hard for ourselves.
‘So much depends on other results, as well. We are not at the stage of doing too much of the maths but we probably need to win every game.’
Glasgow have six Pro12 games left, including four winnable home fixtures, but the away ties are at Munster and Leinster, two of the current top three, and neither of them places where Warriors have had much success in recent years.
The challenge starts on Saturday when Newport Gwent Dragons, the team in tenth spot above only the two Italian franchises, visit Scotstoun. It is a game where the Warriors must be targeting a scoring bonus point as well as a win.
‘We have had some good games against Dragons in the past and had a good win there earlier this season,’ said Blair.
‘They are always stuffy opposition and it takes a lot of work to beat them. Bonus points could end up being important but you need to win the game first — put enough pressure on their defence and create opportunities. That will come from our hard work.’
With 16 players on international duty, plus injuries, Glasgow are having to rely on their second and third string players in many positions. While they have been winning lots of possession, they have struggled to do anything with it.
‘We need to continue to work hard on what we are doing,’ said Blair. ‘I hope we will put ourselves in a better position on Saturday.’