Keatley joins Glasgow Warriors

Ireland international fly-half Ian Keatley has joined Glasgow Warriors on a deal until the end of the 2020/21 season, adding a wealth of top-flight experience to Danny Wilson’s squad.

The
33-year-old strengthens the club’s fly-half options ahead of the conclusion of
the Guinness PRO14 campaign, as well as the inaugural Rainbow Cup scheduled to
start in April.

Only former
Glasgow Warriors fly-half Dan Parks and Wales’ Dan Biggar can claim to have
scored more points in the Guinness PRO14 than Keatley, who has amassed 1,524
points over 13 years in the competition.

On the
announcement of Keatley, head coach, Danny Wilson, said: “Ian has been
a fantastic player over the years for Munster, Connacht and more recently at
Benetton.

“His experience will be great from a performance point of view. He will also be
invaluable to the development of our young players, including the likes of Ross
Thompson, and also enable us to look at Pete [Horne] in his natural position of
inside centre.”

The
fly-half’s 212 appearances in the competition are surpassed only by his former
Connacht captain John Muldoon, with the Dubliner having also been a part of a
Munster squad that reached six semi-finals in his eight seasons at Thomond Park.

Keatley made
his Ireland debut in May 2009, scoring 10 points in a victory over Canada. His
most recent start for the men in green came in the autumn of 2017, when he
slotted the match-winning kick in a 23-20 win over Fiji.

He becomes
the first Irish international to represent Glasgow Warriors since James Downey,
the centre having pulled on a Glasgow shirt on seven occasions in the 2014/15
campaign.

On joining
the club Keatley said: “It’s a strange time to be joining the team with
everything that’s going on with COVID, however I’m really happy to be joining
a club and a city with a proud rugby history.

“I’m looking
forward to being able to start on a fresh slate with Glasgow and I’m excited to
begin working with Danny and his coaching team.

“This club
is a top-quality outfit and I’m relishing the chance to be able to play
alongside some of its top-quality talent.”

Danny Wilson
continued: “It’s apparent and appropriate to suggest that we need to add an
experienced fly-half to our situation that we are currently in.

“In our last
recruitment cycle, before the season started, we wanted to bring in both a 15 and
a 10. However, we didn’t get the opportunity to do that due to COVID.

“Pete Horne
has done a great job for us at fly-half this season; however, 12 is his
favoured position and with his recent concussion problems and Adam Hastings’
shoulder, we need bring in some experience at fly-half for the last six months
of the season.

“We now have that opportunity and we are chuffed to be able to bring in someone of Ian’s quality, experience and knowledge into the squad.”