Quartet nominated for McCrea Financial Services Warrior of the Month

Glasgow Warriors Head Coach Franco Smith has shortlisted four of the club’s outstanding performers as the nominees in the running to be named McCrea Financial Services Warrior of the Month for October, after the Warriors closed out block one of the new campaign in impressive fashion.

An all-action 52-36 win away to Cardiff kicked off the month in scintillating attacking fashion, before a 33-3 triumph at home to Zebre Parma made it 10 points from 10 ahead of the club’s South African double-header.

A brace of bonus-points in defeat to the Hollywoodbets Sharks, earned via a hard-fought comeback in Durban, set up a resounding win over the DHL Stormers to close out the month, as the Warriors claimed a bonus-point, 28-17 win in Stellenbosch for their first regular-season victory in South Africa for over six years.

Supporters have until 5pm on Friday 8 November to cast their vote via the club’s official Twitter channel.

Our biggest ever battlefield 🏟️

We’ve sold over 1️⃣4️⃣,5️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ tickets for our 1872 Cup clash at Hampden Park this December – that’s more than twice the capacity of Scotstoun already!

Get your tickets 👉 https://t.co/OyFyKMZ8yC pic.twitter.com/vDIrz25ypn

— Glasgow Warriors (@GlasgowWarriors) November 1, 2024

The nominees are:

Kyle Rowe

Scotland winger Rowe hit top gear across October, the former Ayr flyer currently sitting joint-top of the BKT United Rugby Championship for clean breaks after six matches.

A double against Cardiff saw the winger showcase his finishing ability, ducking between two tackles for the first before chasing his own grubber for the second.

After setting up George Horne with a sublime outside-of-the-boot kick in Durban, Rowe then turned finisher himself in Stellenbosch, producing a spectacular chase of his own chip ahead to dive over in the corner for Glasgow’s third try.

Sione Tuipulotu

In the month that also saw him named as Scotland captain, Tuipulotu continued to show why he is renowned as one of the world’s premier centres through his form in a Glasgow jersey during October.

A barnstorming charge through Wales fly-half Callum Sheedy and arcing finish saw the centre touch down for a stunning try in Cardiff, one of three matches across October in which he captained the Warriors.

Tuipulotu was another to excel in the South African double-header, finishing off an excellent team attack for one score and almost setting up Sebastian Cancelliere for another with a thunderous line break from halfway.

Rory Darge

Nominated for the second successive month, openside Darge continued to operate at the highest level during October, as he helped to steer his side to the top-two of the BKT URC.

No player has made more tackles than the flanker in the competition to date, Darge’s tally of 98 seeing him sit atop the charts after the opening six rounds.

It was Darge’s try that kick-started the comeback in Durban, driving over as part of the lineout maul to touch down for the score in an all-action display.

Johnny Matthews

An ever-present during October, hooker Matthews once again showed his nose for the try-line in a typically action-packed series of performances.

Having featured away to Cardiff, his first of three tries across the month came in the home win over Zebre Parma, his 11^th try in five matches against the Italian outfit.

Matthews then showed his work-rate and pace in finishing off Rowe’s line-break for the crucial fourth score in Durban, before touching down from the maul once more against the DHL Stormers to take his tally to 43 tries in a Glasgow jersey.

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