Glasgow and Edinburgh back in for training block

IT was just 36 hours after the Scotland men’s senior team brought the curtain down on the 2021-22 15-aside season when the country’s two pro teams kicked off preparation for the new campaign yesterday morning, with the Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors players not involved in international rugby this summer checking in for their first block of pre-season training.

Glasgow issued a squad update revealing that 28 players were involved in yesterday’s training sessions, overseen by assistant coaches Nigel Carolan, Pete Murchie, Pete Horne, Al Dickinson and Head of Athletic Performance Cillian Reardon. A new head coach has not yet been announced following the abrupt departure of Danny Wilson at the end of last season, but Scottish Rugby’s head of performance Jim Mallinder has promised that an announcement is imminent.

New signings Allan Dell, JP du Preez, Sintu Manjezi and Sione Vailanu were all in attendance, as were three players from SRU partner club Old Glory DC in the USA – Corey Daniel (back-row), John Rizzo (winger) and Owen Sheehy (fly-half/full-back). Ayrshire Bulls scrum-half Cameron Jones is also involved as additional cover.

On the injury front, Kyle Steyn has recovered from his ankle injury sustained against the Stormers and returns to full training.

Ally Miller (back), Alex Samuel (hand) and Josh McKay (ankle) have all undergone surgery during the off-season and are expected to be back fit for the opening rounds of the URC.

Duncan Weir (calf) and Gregor Brown (groin) are both managing soft tissue injuries and will re-join the squad later in pre-season.

Huw Jones continues to recover from a back injury sustained in Harlequins semi-final loss against Saracens and is expected to be available for the start of the URC season.

Enrique Pieretto has sustained a shoulder injury while with Argentina XV and underwent shoulder surgery on Saturday and is expected to be out until November.

Edinburgh have not issued a squad update at this stage.