Horne debut helps to lift gloom for Gregor
IT may have just been 10 minutes off the bench at the end of Glasgow Warriors’ worst display of the season, but for George Horne it was a very special moment.
The scrum-half brother of Scotland internationalist Peter made his competitive debut in the 22-5 Guinness Pro12 loss to Ospreys, with his late appearance one of the evening’s few bright spots.
Horne did actually make a difference in those final minutes, with Glasgow, who played with 14 men for most of the second half, enjoying their only decent spell. They even scored a consolation try through Junior Bulumakau.
‘Ospreys defended well and we got starved of the ball a lot. I was quite fortunate when I was on that we kept possession and looked threatening,’ said Horne. ‘One of my strengths is bringing tempo to the game. If I can speed the game up and make it hard for the defence, it’s good for the team, and that is what made our try.
‘My brother was in the stand watching. It has been good to learn from him. I was there for his first game for Glasgow so it would be nice to get one together now.’ George hopes more appearances for Glasgow this season will earn him a professional contract with the club. With Henry Pyrgos out with an ankle injury and Grayson Hart having a nightmare match on Friday, it may yet happen. ‘I’ve been around the squad for a couple of seasons, so it was good to get on. It is an experience I’ll never forget,’ said Horne.
‘I’m just trying to get as many opportunities as I can and hopefully something will come from there. Obviously there will be Scotland guys coming back, but I’ve just got to train well and take every opportunity.’ Glasgow Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend praised the way Horne played, and felt that the way his young team rallied late on showed there is hope for the future.
‘I felt we did really well in the last 15 minutes or so when we had a lot of young players like George out on the pitch,’ said Townsend. ‘We need to improve a lot but I take pride with the way some of the boys played at the end.’