Warriors will be ready
Dannywilson has said that Glasgow will prepare as normal for their Champions Cup game away to Lyon on Saturday, despite growing fears thwat the French govewrnment will suspend the competition due to Covid-19 concerns.
Speaking after the late postponement of his team’s game against Edinburgh on Friday night, the Warriors head coach said he was hopeful of Leone Nakarawa making his long-awaited comeback in the match in France, and hinted that efforts to sign Duncan Weir and another stand-off were still very much continuing.
“We’ll prepare as if the game is going ahead until we hear otherwise,” Wilson said of the Pool B game against the French club, who currently top the table. “Come Monday we’ll train and prepare for Lyon.
“We’ve sat down as a coaching group and done our preview on them so we can deliver that to the players. We’ll carry on with that plan until we’ll hear otherwise.”
Tournament organisers EPCR have met French government
officials and tried to reassure them that tighter Covid protocols are now in place to deal with the threat of the new strain of the virus that has become prevalent in the UK.
If the Macron administration decides to ban foreign teams from playing in France, EPCR will have to postpone the remaining two rounds of the competition’s pool stage.
Last month Glasgow’s home game against Lyon was cancelled, and the French club awarded a 28-0 victory, after 20 players were forced into self-isolation when previous opponents, Exeter, returned positive coronavirus tests.
Wilson has not had his troubles to seek since taking over as head coach in the summer, and has been frustrated by how long it has taken Nakarawa to return to full fitness following a knee injury.
The Fijian forward has yet to play this season, but the coach is now optimistic that he will be able to take the field on Saturday.
“If he gets through this week’s training, he’ll be available for next weekend,” continued the coach, who will be without emergency replacement lock Lewis Bean now that his loan from Northampton has ended.
“It’s not 100% certain yet, because he’s still got to get through the second stage of contact stuff after doing the first stage this week.
“But if he gets through that, we should be able to get him out there in some way, shape or form. There’s still a risk attached to it, but hopefully it’s positive.”
Meanwhile, Wilson’s search goes on for at least one stand-off to replace Adam Hastings, who is leaving Glasgow for Gloucester in the summer.
Asked to comment on the possibility of Weir’s return to Scotstoun from Worcester, he said: “He’s a player that I rate highly. I think he’s a good 10, and from the minute I took the job, it’s something I’ve wanted to strengthen.”