Dempsey likens young Darge to the Wizard of Oz
Jack Dempsey has paid Rory Darge the highest possible compliment any Australian could offer a fellow player.
He has compared the Warriors flanker’s work-ethic and fitness levels to Wallabies legend, Michael Hooper – one of the greatest players ever to have pulled on a rugby jersey.
Dempsey was speaking after playing his first game alongside 21-year-old Darge in Friday’s night’s United Rugby Championship season opener against Ulster in Belfast.
The Scottish youngster – who made the move west to Glasgow at the tail-end of last season after struggling to get game time under Richard Cockerill at Edinburgh – was named Man of the Match, following an all-action performance.
It wasn’t enough to prevent a frustrating 35-29 defeat for Danny Wilson’s side, but Dempsey insisted there was plenty of positives to be taken out of the game.
“I thought Rory was outstanding,” said the 27-yearold No. 8, who has been capped 14 times by Australia.
“He had two nice pilfers, from memory, and he was unlucky nottogetacouplemore.
“His fitness is world-class. I noticed that in the pre-season with some of the scores he gets, and metres he runs at training.
“Before I came up here to Glasgow, I played pretty much almost every game next to Michael Hooper, and that’s the first thing that stands out, in terms of when you’ve got a seven like that who can just run all day – for 85 or 90 minutes if need be.
“So when I talk about that connection there to Hoops, it’s more about the work ethic, and how he goes about it.
“As a ball-running backrower, to play next to a guy like that – who you know is going to just keep rocking up with the same energy for every minute of that game – is huge.
“I love a back-rower who has got some footwork, some evasive skills and an offload. So I’m looking forward to building more chemistry with him.”
Next up for Warriors is backto-back home games against two of the South African sides – the Sharks and the Lions – who have been added to the URC (previously the PRO14).
Having played Super Rugby against those sides for the Waratahs during the last six seasons before making the move north to join Glasgow, Dempsey is ideally placed to give his new team-mates an insight on what to expect.
“It’s pretty black-and-white. They’re going to look to bully us,” he said.
“Their pack and centres are going to look to get on top of us in the first 20. If you run high as a ball-carrier, you are going to get held up and driven back, and that’s where they get their momentum.
“They are going to have a few cowboys in their backline, who are going to shoot up hard and look for intercepts and big hits.
“That’s the way they like to build energy, with those flashy kinds of plays.
“So, for us, it’s about discipline, it’s about execution at set-piece, it’s about phase play and line-speed as well.”