Gibbins surprised by rapid rise to captaincy at Warriors

Kiwi flanker admits he could have done more to pile pressure on Connacht last time out

Callum Gibbins admits it has come as a surprise to him how quickly he has become a leader since joining Glasgow.

The flanker joined the Warriors from the Hurricanes last summer and has had an immediate impact, emerging as the second in command on the pitch at Scotstoun.

Gibbins has regularly led the Warriors in the absence of Ryan Wilson – the full-time club captain who is often away on Scotland duty and is currently injured – and has been one of the players of the season in a campaign that has seen them book a home semi-final in the play-offs with Glasgow top of their conference in the Guinness PRO14.

However, he admits that his ascent has come quicker than he could have anticipated and despite a history of captaining sides, he knows he still has a lot to improve on ahead of the trip to Ulster this weekend.

“Wils (Wilson) gets pulled in and out of the team with Scotland (duty),” he said.

“But yeah I was a little bit surprised when they called me in to be captain in Ryan’s absence, but I was happy to do it.

“It’s a great honour to captain the side and hopefully I can keep doing it well.

“I’ve been captain of different sides throughout my career, so it’s not a new role for me, but coming to a new place, it was a little bit daunting after just a few months here, but I am pretty familiar with the role.”

Gibbins, a 29-year-old from New Plymouth in New Zealand, has only recently returned from a three-month lay-off due to injury but again led the Warriors on Friday night when they defeated Connacht at Scotstoun.

The home side looked to be heading for another comprehensive victory only for Connacht to apply second-half pressure on the Glasgow forwards and pin them inside their own 22 for much of the half, and Gibbins admits that as a leader he could have done more to help his side out.

“We got stuck in the corner (of the pitch) and through us leaders we didn’t deal with the situation as well as we could have,” he explained.

“It was a tough position to be in and because we were starved of the ball, once we got it we tried to overplay and I probably needed to put my hand up there and do something different.

“There were a lot of learnings from that game and how to lead the team.”

SNS. Callum Gibbins, left, with Niko Matawalu. Gibbins, who will captain the Warriors against Ulster on Saturday, has been surprised by how quickly he has become a leader with the Glasgow team.

Regular team captain Ryan Wilson has had limited opportunities because of injury and international commitments.