In have come two new assistant coaches, Roddy Grant and Scott Forrest, with the former coach of the Scotland women’s 7s squad moving up from a role in the Warriors academy last season to replace Murchie as defensive leader.
Forrest acknowledges those are big shoes to fill given how effective Glasgow’s defence has been in recent seasons but he is keen to get stuck into the challenge.
“I’ll be leading on defence, essentially picking up from where Pete left off,” he confirms. “And then with Roddy, not speaking for him, but he’s primarily looking at forwards and the contact area specifically.
“I was quite lucky last year that I was in the building so I worked alongside Pete quite a lot. So, one of the big messages we gave to the players was what’s in place works. The evidence shows it. If you look at stats and the main markers around defence, it’s the second best in the league behind Leinster on near enough every metric.
“And you look across the last two years, it’s been either first or second best in defence. So, there’s not going to be a huge change around the system. Obviously, I’ll put my own slant on it but Murchie did a brilliant job when he was in here so it’s now my job to try and take it forward because ultimately that’s what we’re always looking to do.
“How do you evolve? How do you keep pushing forward within the game? The big ones for me looking at defence is, you want to stop the other team scoring, but ultimately defending is about getting the ball back.
“So, the more dominant you can be in your collisions, then the more turnovers you can win and the more penalties you can win on that side of the ball. We want to keep the system the same. But I think one of the changes is we want to find ways to evolve and move forward. Can we be more aggressive to go and get the ball back within the system that’s already in place.”
Franco Smith cut an emotional figure at the end of last season. Image: © Craig Watson – www.craigwatson.co.uk
For a while it looked as if the most significant change at Scotstoun would be around the head coach. Franco Smith’s emotion in the immediate aftermath of that loss to Leinster suggested he could well be moving on after three years but, for now, the South African is still in the building. So, has Forrest spoken to his new boss about his future plans?
“In terms of conversations with him about his situation, I’ve not had that, no. But he’s here. He’s here for the season, that was always the plan. But in terms of after that, that’s very much a question for Franco. I have not asked him that.
“He’s a very emotional man. I think that’s probably his biggest strength as well, he doesn’t hide things. What you see is what you get, and that’s very much, whether it’s in front of the camera, or with us here behind closed doors, it’s definitely the biggest strength he’s got. He does care a lot.”
Smith was out on the training field today as Warriors entered their third week of pre-season preparations ahead of Saturday’s friendly at Bath.
Those who were part of the Scotland squad that travelled to New Zealand and Fiji are back in action, although those who were with the British and Irish Lions for the duration of their Australia tour – Sione Tuipulotu, Huw Jones and Scott Cummings – have been given an extended break.
“We didn’t train last week, and prior to that we had two weeks of pretty intense training, so this is us really starting our third week of rugby,” confirms Forrest. “I think the reason that works is the trust between the players and the coaches that when the players come back in after their longer break, they’ve been in the gym, they’ve done their running sessions, so they’re coming in physically in a good place.
“This weekend for Bath will be mainly the academy, the non-international boys, the guys that have been in since the start of pre-season. They’re the ones that are going to get the first opportunity.”
The personnel list has changed considerably over the summer with one of the new boys catching the eye in particular.
“Dan Lancaster has come in from Racing and trained really well so he’s someone that will get integrated through these pre-season games and hopefully be able to kick on into the season,” adds Forrest.
“In pre-season he has been running a lot at 10. He played a lot there when he was younger, but we also know he’s got that versatility. He played a lot at 12, more as a second receiver, a second ball player when he was at Racing, which is great having someone that’s got that versatility but also played at a really high level.”
Jack Dempsey is back in the Glasgow fold after recovering from a hamstring injury. Image: © Craig Watson – www.craigwatson.co.uk
Forrest also provided injury updates on Zander Fagerson, who missed the Lions tour with a calf injury, and Jack Dempsey who hasn’t played since the Six Nations due to a hamstring problem.
“Zander’s not fully back into rugby. He’s very much on track in terms of his return but he’s not fully back in. Jack’s been fully involved in rugby and is looking really sharp. He’s been fully involved through pre-season and is probably someone that will be involved at some point in one of these pre-season games.
“I’m not a medic in terms of being fully involved in that but I do know that it was probably the best thing for him as an individual just to get that extra time [to recover].”
Warriors seemed to struggle at times under the burden of being defending champions last season, something they won’t have to contend with this year.
“We’ve probably not spoken about it as being a relief but it does change the mindset,” agrees Forrest. “Last year you were the hunted because you were the champions, and I suppose every team that comes to play you last year has an extra bit of motivation because they want to beat the champions. I suppose it’s flipped back to where Glasgow would normally be. We’re the hunters again, which is quite a nice place to be.
“But ultimately we know we need to be better because we didn’t win last year. So, the mentality in the building is we want to go and win in the league and we want to go and win in cup competitions.”