ROSS HAS GOT IT ALL
Talented Thompson is ‘world class’ prospect, says Glasgow attack coach
Watch out Finn Russell. there is a new No 10 on the block. Ross thompson may be just 22 but Glasgow Warriors attack coach Nigel carolan has already seen enough of him to tip him for the very top.
Such praise may be a burden to someone so young but the Irishman — who spent four years as attack coach at connacht before he joined Glasgow — is confident the former Scotland Under-20s player can deal with it.
thompson is up against experienced Scotland international Duncan Weir and capped argentine Domingo Miotti — who has just joined the club after playing for his country in the Rugby championship — for the starting ten jersey at Scotstoun but, provided he is handled correctly, carolan is confident he can go all the way to the top.
‘Ross thompson is a young player who is quite impressionable at the moment and his natural instinct is to run the ball, but you saw at the back end of last season that he’s got a really good kicking game, too,’ said carolan.
‘When I spoke to him in the review this week after our game against the Sharks, it was about him finding the balance because he has a triple threat.
‘he’s got a running game, he’s got a passing game and he’s got a kicking game. It’s about selecting which one to use at the right time.
‘Sometimes he’ll get a bit flat when he wants to kick and a bit deep when he wants to run, but for a young fella who’s got the triple threat, he just needs that little bit of balance.
‘When he figures that out — and he’s going to figure it out because he has a feel for it — he’s going to be world class.’
carolan said the word ‘balance’ was the buzz word he has used since he became the Glasgow attack coach. although he had been impressed by the Warriors attack before he arrived from connacht, he felt he had a duty to rein it in a bit as there was a lack of balance to their play.
‘the word that sums up what we are all about is balance,’ he said. ‘Not only the balance between attack and defence, but in attack there is a balance between playing and overplaying.
‘My view of the historical Warriors was that it was flamboyant and ambitious and fast, but there was a lack of balance. a few years ago, you would get away with that, but defences are so well organised now. When you do get turned over in your own half, it can have repercussions.
‘I haven’t changed a whole lot in terms of the attack and I’m just looking at it through a different lens. In some ways, simplifying it.
‘I haven’t come in with a template from my previous role to say this is how it needs to be done. I’m working with what’s there and there is really strong DNa in Glasgow for ambitious rugby. I want to tap into that and challenge myself to adapt to their style.
‘What we saw at the weekend against the Sharks, certainly in the first 50 minutes, is the template for how we want to play the game. there has to be an element of unpredictability. Our tries coming from set piece, from turnovers, from multiphase and being relentless when we get into the opposition 22. We are trying to add strings to the bow.
‘coming in, I’m very conscious that their game wasn’t broken and their attack wasn’t broken. What I’ve tried to create is just to put a different lens on it, maybe use different language — say the same thing but in my terms.’
carolan has warned his players about getting over-enthusiastic in attack due to the Scotstoun crowds encouraging them to take the game to the opposition when they face the Lions in the United Rugby championship at home this Saturday.
‘again, it is trying to find a balance,’ he said. ‘It is absolutely fantastic to have crowds back again and we looked at it in our team meeting. We were looking at the crowd and seeing how inspired they are by their team delivering for them. It really is part of the culture around here; the support and the community is really important.
‘can you get overly enthusiastic? Yes, I think you can. But we don’t set ourselves up to do one thing or another in a certain area of the pitch. We tried to leave it to the players so they have a framework to attack. Whether they run or kick is a feeling and that’s how they manage the game.
‘at the weekend, was the crowd egging them on against the Sharks? they were, but in the second half there were just a lot of human errors. they were uncharacteristic, but we don’t beat the lads with them.
‘What we speak about is how we get ourselves back on track again. We need to back up positive outcomes, getting little wins to get calm and get momentum back, but the crowd are fantastic and it is like the 16th man.’
Glasgow go into the match against the Lions off the back of that impressive 35-24 win over the Sharks in a game when they ran in five tries — one of which was scored by thompson.
‘We just feel that if we right the little wrongs and add another one per cent to our game to what we had against the Sharks, I think we should be able to come away with a victory this weekend,’ said carolan.
‘then we’re over to Zebre the following week and again the focus will be on ourselves and not to get dragged into a game that is unfamiliar to us.
‘then we’ve got Leinster. We feel this is a massive opportunity in this first block of games to get a considerable number of points on the board and it can start a bit of momentum and build confidence.’