Warriors look to Strauss to bring down Leinster house
South African gives Glasgow optimism
Saturday 23 March 2013 tHERE is a sense that Glasgow are coming together at the perfect time for an historic push on the Rabodirect PRo12 title, and it is typified by their South african recruit Josh Strauss.
the beard that made him a cult figure in the Super 15 with the lions is back in full bloom, his body and mind are getting used to the vagaries of a Scottish winter that doesn’t let up and his fitness levels are now where he and the Glasgow coaching staff would want them to be to enable him to make maximum impact off the back of scrums.
as Glasgow prepare for a run of five games that will determine whether their hopes of bringing a first celtic title back to Scotland are real, or not, his presence in a strong squad is generating optimism.
Strauss was targeted by Glasgow’s new head coach, Gregor townsend, and Graham lowe, the SRU’s former director of rugby, as part of a long-time campaign to uncover the kind of big-boned ball-carriers that this country does not produce in great numbers.
With the accent in modern rugby being less on flair in beating men one-on-one, space having disappeared as body shapes grow and defensive structure becomes a scientific process, the main route to momentum is an old one, through big men who can batter through defences, and set players on their heels.
the lack of those power players in Scottish jerseys has been at the heart of the struggle to compete internationally. Scottish teams have produced talented ball-players and grafters, but often had to resort to kicking over defences and round them and staying in games with goal-kicking, while casting envious glances at opponents with a plethora of ball-carrying threats.
So it is no wonder that Glasgow supporters have taken 26-year-old Strauss to their heart, with his charging runs and dynamite hits, nor that he is a player the SRU hope will follow tim Visser and become Scottish-qualified after three years living here. Understandably, the back-rower is less keen to talk about scenarios in 2015, aware of all the hurdles he must overcome before then, and more focused on how he might help his Glasgow teammates take the
RaboDirect Pro12 At RDS Showground, today, 7.45pm
Live on BBC Alba 15 I Nacewa 14 D Kearney 13 E O’Malley 12 G D’Arcy 11 A Conway 10 I Madigan 9 I Boss 1 H van der Merwe 2 S Cronin 3 M Bent 4 L Cullen (capt) 5 Q Roux 6 K McLaughlin 7 S Jennings 8 J Murphy 16 A Dundon 17 J McGrath 18 J Hagan 19 D Toner 20 D Ryan 21 J Cooney 22 B Macken 23 F Carr 15 P Murchie 14 T Seymour 13 A Dunbar 12 P Horne 11 DTH van der Merwe 10 D Weir 9 N Matawalu 1 M Low 2 D Hall 3 E Kalman 4 T Ryder 5 A Kellock (capt) 6 R Harley 7 J Barclay 8 J Strauss 16 P MacArthur 17 G Reid 18 J Welsh 19 J Eddie 20 R Wilson 21 H Pyrgos 22 R Jackson 23 S Lamont
Picture: SNS