Kennedy happy to be back in Glasgow jersey

Yet when the
call came through that an injury would force his team-mate to withdraw from the
starting XV for Monday night’s match against Ulster at short notice, there was
no hesitation from Kennedy as he took his place for the opening kick-off.

“I didn’t
want to get to kick-off and go ‘oh ****, I’m starting the match’,” laughed
Kennedy when speaking to glasgowwarriors.org.

“I knew
Jamie had taken a bang in the warm-up, so I knew I might potentially be needed
to step in at short notice. I was mentally preparing myself in case the call
came, so I was making sure I was in the right frame of mind.

“I was
hoping Jamie was going to be alright obviously, but when it came to it, I was
ready. That meant I was able to just relax and focus on my game as soon as the
whistle went.”

The
29-year-old then proceeded to turn in a performance that drew praise from all
quarters, from the Premier Sports commentary team – including former Glasgow
team-mate John Barclay – to Head Coach Danny Wilson in his post-match comments.
Whilst the result was as sore a point for Kennedy as it is for the Warrior
Nation watching on at home, the scrum-half admits a sense of satisfaction at starting
for the club once again.

“Overall, I
was happy with how I played,” said Kennedy.

“There were
a few things I’d like a do-over on – I missed a couple of tackles and had a
couple of kicks that didn’t come off – but I was happy enough.

“The fact
that we got well beaten stings though. As a half-back you can control the game
a bit, so I was annoyed that we didn’t manage to do that well enough. For my
first decent amount of game time at that level for a good while, though, I was
pleased with how my performance went.”

Indeed with
nine club appearances to his name, Kennedy was the experienced head amongst the
scrum-half duo to take to the field on Monday night. His promotion to the
starting XV – coupled with Dobie’s withdrawal – saw Caleb Korteweg come into
the matchday squad, making his debut for the Warriors by coming on for the
final six minutes.

“I’ve got to
know Caleb a bit through playing with him at Stirling County,” said Kennedy.

“He’s a
young lad and he’s shown what he can do since coming over from playing in New
Zealand. He’s really easy-going – he gets along with anyone and everyone.

“What people
possibly don’t realise is that he only trained with us for a couple of days
last week, and he knew his stuff when he came on so he’s done the graft and
worked hard. Fair play to him, because I thought he did really well when he
came on.

“He’s not
played rugby since the FOSROC Super6 was suspended, so to go from doing nothing
to playing your first pro match is massively impressive.”

With 18
players unavailable due to either international commitments or injury, it’s
been a Glasgow Warriors squad with a few fresh faces that have taken to the
pitch in recent weeks. Yet Kennedy is effusive in his praise for Danny Wilson
and his coaching team as they allow the squad to gel, as the Scotstoun side
look to get back to winning ways in the Guinness PRO14.

“The coaches
have been excellent,” said the scrum-half.

“Jonny
[Bell]’s extremely enthusiastic – he brings a lot of energy and detail to every
session, and he’s got a real fun side to him. He brings in wee challenges for
the backs in attack sessions, and both he and Danny have brought a really good
temperament to the squad.

“We’re
obviously without a lot of players at the minute, but they’ve not been putting
any pressure on any of the young lads or guys like myself. It’s all about
encouraging guys to back themselves and play their game. The results haven’t
gone our way just yet, but there’s something building nicely here.”

“The main
thing I want to do is win, to be honest! I don’t care if it means starting on
the bench or in the starting team, I just want the next result to be a ‘W’.”

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— Glasgow Warriors (@GlasgowWarriors) November 10, 2020