Ross is ready to star for Scots
YOUNG WARRIOR THOMPSON TIPPED TO FILL FINN’S BOOTS
GLASGOW Warriors head coach Danny Wilson believes Gregor Townsend will be bold enough to start the uncapped fly-half Ross Thompson against Tonga at BT Murrayfield.
With Finn Russell and Adam Hastings both unlikely to be released by their clubs because the October 31 fixture is outwith the international window, the prized ten jersey is up for grabs.
Edinburgh head coach Mike Blair is still not sure whether Jaco van der Walt or the currently injured Blair Kinghorn is his first-choice ten. That leaves rising star Thompson, who is keeping Duncan Weir out of the Glasgow starting team, as the in-form player of all four home-based fly-half candidates.
Usually a rookie would come off the bench but Wilson, who worked under Townsend with Scotland, believes the national team boss will be comfortable starting the 22-year-old provided he keeps up his fantastic early-season form.
Wilson, whose Warriors take on the Lions at Scotstoun today, said: ‘Gregor is certainly bold enough to go with Ross. If he thinks that’s the right call, he’ll make that decision. I suppose it’s more based on form going into the game which, right now, puts Ross in a good place.
‘Ross and Duncy are definitely in the mix for an opportunity but I haven’t seen the Edinburgh boys play. It will be interesting to see what approach Gregor takes and whether it’s about younger guys getting an opportunity against Tonga or building squad momentum going into the next one against Australia.’
Wilson feels Thompson has deserved to keep the more experienced Weir out of the starting team for the second week in a row. Impressed by his maturity and ability to switch between his natural running game and a kicking one, he said: ‘On the whole, Ross had another solid game last weekend and deserves to stay in.’
While Thompson can look forward to a call-up, Scotland will have to do without first-choice second row Scott Cummings for the four-match Test series.
He picked up a ligament injury in his hand that requires surgery and will be out for between six and eight weeks.
‘Scott played on with it against the Sharks and he functioned all right,’ said Wilson. ‘I suppose adrenalin kicked in. It wasn’t until after that he said he was struggling. He woke up next morning and it was a hell of a lot worse.
‘Expert opinion was he needed surgery. He was really struggling with his grip for a couple of days, so it needed to be done.
‘We just need to wait out the time and get him back, and that’s the same for Scotland. Unless there’s a miracle I think he’ll be out for all the autumn Tests.’
Cummings broke his other hand playing against Ireland in the last Six Nations, forcing him to miss the final two games of the tournament.
‘He’s broken both hands in his career,’ said Wilson. ‘This is a ligament injury, not a break. They’re all freak injuries, aren’t they? There’s no pattern there.’
Wilson has made four changes to the team who beat Sharks 35-24 at Scotstoun. Lewis Bean makes his first start of the season, replacing Cummings, and will partner Richie Gray in the second row.
Rory Darge comes in at openside flanker ahead of Tom Gordon, with Inverness-born scrum-half Jamie Dobie getting the nod ahead of George Horne.
Nick Grigg makes his first start of the league campaign, replacing Sione Tuipulotu to form an all-Scotland international centre partnership with last weekend’s man of the match, Sam Johnson.
‘We should be very wary of the Lions,’ said Wilson. ‘As a team they seem to function well and have good individuals. Their first half against Zebre was a real warning sign to everybody — they scored five tries by half-time and were cruising. They showed how dangerous they can be and we certainly won’t take them lightly.
‘We need to know this is a good team, and respect them, and we’ll have to work hard to get the win.’
GLASGOW v EMIRATES LIONS (kick-off: 3.05pm, live on Premier Sports 1). GLASGOW: Forbes; Steyn, Grigg, Johnson, McLean; Thompson, Dobie; Bhatti, Brown, McCallum, Bean, Gray, Wilson, Darge, Dempsey. EMIRATES LIONS: Rossouw; Pienaar, Rass, Odendaal, Maxwane; Viljoen, Warner; Sithole, Visagie, du Plessis, Schoeman, van Vuren, Kriel, Tshituka, Straeuli.