GLASGOW WARRIORS could find themselves facing a back row crisis when they revealed that No.8 Adam Ashe will not play again this year after having surgery on a hip while recovering from the foot problem he picked up in the the final regular-season game last term.
It means they have only three fully-fit full-time back rows – Simone Favaro, Ryan Wilson and Rob Harley – and need to dip into the club academy to complete the playing squad each week.
The last couple of weeks it has been Lewis Wynne, the Stirling County flanker, but Glasgow also used Matt Fagerson, Zander's younger brother, and Callum Hunter-Hill in the role when they played Canada A just before the season kicked off. Matt Smith, who produced some stand-out performances for the Under 20s last season, has also been training with the club.
The problem comes because Ashe will be joined in the rehab room by Josh Strauss and Chris Fusaro, who are both hoping to be back in action within the next few weeks. Until then it is a problem area for the coaches.
Ashe, who has seen his career stalled by a series of niggling injuries since making his international debut two years ago, had originally been hoping that after damaging his foot against Connacht at the end of last season he might have been back for the revenge mission last weekend – instead he won't be back until after the New Year.
In the meantime his team-mates made a more than effective job of getting their own back for the two defeats by Connacht without him. Now Matt Taylor, the defence coach, is challenging them to produce an equally vibrant performance this weekend as they officially unveil their new 4G pitch at Scotstoun against Leinster, the losing Guinness PRO12 finalists.
"We talked in the meetings that it has been a long time since we had a home game, now we have a new pitch and it looks as though it will be a sell-out crowd," Taylor said. "There will be a lot of generated interest in this game. We are up against a club who have had a lot of success over the years in a lot of competitions. We are looking forward to it.
"Talking to people from Saracens, Cardiff and Newcastle it [the 4G pitch] speeds the ruck ball up, so in attack that is exciting. Defensively it makes me a wee bit more nervous. It speeds the game up and that might make defence a bit harder but it should be great for us."
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