Warriors return
Ex-County men stake claims for places
Glasgow Warriors will kick off their 2017-18 with a friendly match against Aviva Premiership side Northampton Saints at Bridgehaugh on Saturday, Augsut 19.
And for two members of the squad, it will be a return to their old stamping ground.
Back-row forwards Adam Ashe and Matt Smith both started at Stirling County and they will be among those pushing for places in what will be incoming head coach Dave Rennie’s first selection in charge of the Warriors.
With pre-season preparations well underway ahead of the new campaign, both men have been back in Stirling to promote the game and said they were excited by the prospect of returning to Bridgehaugh later this month.
“It’s been a long pre-season, and a lot of hard work has gone into it, so I think most of the guys are looking forward to the game now,” said Ashe.
“It’s a great place to start our season, Stirling – I’m from just along the road in Alva, so it’s a place close to my heart and I look forward to taking to the Bridgehaugh pitch once again.”
Smith agreed, with the former Stirling High School pupil enjoying a break from his first pre-season as a professional player.
He said: “It’s good to be back home. We’ve got the week off having finished our second block of pre-season, so I’m back home visiting my parents. I’m enjoying it, I must say.
“Pre-season has been really tough, but it’s good to get my first full pre-season under my belt – I’ve been injured for them in the past couple of seasons. I feel like I’m in good shape.”
With Rennie set to arrive in Glasgow next week, the Bridgehaugh fixture will mark the first opportunity for supporters to view the new-look Warriors in action and Smith is full of admiration for the former Chiefs head coach.
He said: “He’s probably one of the best coaches in the world, and I’m looking forward to meeting him. I’ll be looking to learn everything I can from him and really push my game forward.”
Ashe added: “It’ll be good to have Dave over – there’s been a lot of communication between him and the coaching staff that are in at the moment, so things have been building towards playing the way we want to with Dave’s vision on the game.
“With him coming in, we’re going to be relatively up to speed with how he wants to play, and it’ll be good to get to know him a bit better.”
Northampton Saints will provide stiff opposition for the Warriors and Ashe is under no illusions as to the test that the former English champions will pose.
He said: “It’s going to be a difficult game. “Premiership teams always tend to be quite physical with attacking outside backs, so we’re going to have a tough game on our hands.
“Certainly from our training sessions, though, we’ve been playing some good rugby and we can hopefully transfer that into our game.”
For Smith, the match will also provide an opportunity to catch up with a familiar face.
He said: “I’ll hopefully get to see my good buddy Rory Hutchinson too – I’ve played all through the age grades with him so it’ll be exciting to see him.
“I’ve not spoken to him about the fixture yet, so I’ll need to give him a wee FaceTime or something!
“I’m really looking forward to it. We’ve put a good amount of preparation in, and we’re looking to kick-start our season.”
Tickets for the fixture are still available from glasgowwarriors. org, priced at £20 for adults and £5 for under-18s plus transaction fees.
Under-16s with a valid child ticket will also have the opportunity to take part in a pre-match training session with Scotland stars Stuart Hogg and Jonny Gray, as well as forming the guard of honour prior to kick-off.
The match takes place at Bridgehaugh on Saturday, August 19, with a 2pm kick-off.