Dalziel hails squad depth ahead of Dragons trip

23 Oct 2019

Ahead of his side’s return to Guinness PRO14 action this weekend, Glasgow Warriors assistant coach John Dalziel has praised the attitude of the squad’s younger players over the course of the last three months.

With more
players than any other northern hemisphere club side on Rugby World Cup duty
for their respective national teams, the Warrior Nation has seen players such
as Jamie Dobie and Kiran McDonald step up to make a significant impression in
recent weeks.

It’s a
factor that has also pleased the Warriors’ coaching team, as the squad
continues to develop depth across the pitch.

“That’s been
the key positive for us over the last few weeks,” said Dalziel.

“Guys that
maybe didn’t get a lot of game time last year have really come to the fore and
shown us what they can do.

“With 17
guys away it was always going to be a challenge, but we’ve really backed this
group of players and given some of the youngsters a chance. There have been a
lot of upsides to it, even if the results haven’t quite reflected that yet –
someone like Kiran McDonald has come in and been excellent for us, he’s been on
fire.

“Players
have been put into game situations and done well, and they know that we’ll be
calling on them again over the course of the season.”

After
opening the season with two defeats, a 17-13 victory over Cardiff Blues at
Scotstoun in their last competitive outing sends the Warriors on the road to
Newport in good stead, as they prepare to face the Dragons at Rodney Parade
this Saturday.

“We’re
looking for a consistent performance,” said Dalziel.

“The first
20 minutes against Cardiff was exactly what we were looking for after the
opening two matches. The win has given everyone a lot of confidence, but we’ll
face another tough test against the Dragons.

“We know it’s
imperative to get some momentum before the cavalry comes back in over the next
few weeks.”

The cavalry
Dalziel refers to is, of course, the return of the club’s cohort of Rugby World
Cup stars, who will be making their return to Scotstoun over the coming weeks.
Whilst there may be a couple in contention for this weekend’s clash in South
Wales, however, Dalziel insists that no player will be rushed back into service.

“The
non-Scottish lads have been back in this week, but Dave [Rennie]’s been pretty
sensible with them,” explained Dalziel.

“They all
had a long preparation period running up to the World Cup, and a few boys have
played a lot of minutes.

“We’ll make
a decision as we get closer to game day, but someone like Niko or DTH could
feature this weekend.

“It’ll be a
staged return for the boys. The plan would be for some guys to start dripping back
in next week, and then bring them all back in gradually over the next few weeks
from the Kings game onwards.”