ADAM Ashe is always going to have to live with the anomaly of having started a Scotland Test three months before he started a professional club game but, according to Al Kellock, his club captain, there are few better prepared to handle his rare claim to fame.
Ashe joins James Downey in making his first club start when Glasgow play their top-of-the-table clash with unbeaten Connacht tonight. With Kellock also making his return from injury and the usual raft of rotations, including possible returns for Finn Russell and Tom Ryder from the bench, there is a fresh look to the side as they try to maintain their unbeaten home record that goes back to last November.
"It is a bit weird that Adam has started for Scotland before he started for Glasgow, but it says a lot about him, not just his ability but his attitude," said Kellock. "He is an exceptionally talented guy and he has grown into himself. Physically he is going to get better and better and I am really impressed with his attitude. He is a [Stirling] County boy and he has a little bit of attitude in him. He does not take many backward steps and has all the skills.
"He has a big future, but he has already been reminded that this is his bread and butter, though I have never had any doubts about Adam's attitude. He has got big shoes to fill, because Josh [Strauss, captain last week] has been playing so well, but he will bring something slightly different. The key is how much he has evolved; we want to get them on the ball as much as possible."
In practice, Ashe has been unlucky not to have made his debut before. He had been lined up for it last season, but every time he was on the verge of playing a run of games the recurring hamstring injury that dogged him at the time would rear up again. He did manage a stint off the bench against Scarlets, but the first time he ran out with any starting XV in a pro game was when he was wearing the blue of Scotland in South Africa.
For Kellock, after a summer recovering from shoulder surgery, his second game in a week - he played 60 minutes in the A-team clash with Edinburgh A on Monday - is an exciting time. "This is the first time back in the big squad since the [PRO12] final," he said. "In some ways that feels like quite a long time ago, in others it feels like only yesterday. It is great to be back."
It adds some extra spice that this game has taken on extra significance with Connacht and Glasgow being two of the three teams with 100% winning records this season. The Irish province, traditionally regarded as the weakest of the island's four, had started with wins over Newport Gwent Dragons and Edinburgh, before surprising their rivals, and possibly themselves, by beating Leinster, the champions, last week.
"Connacht have changed the way they play, but I have made the point to the players that every game I have ever played against Connacht it has come down to the physicality," Kellock said. "They are generally very good at the breakdown. They are doing some things differently, but Tommy Seymour made the point in a meeting that when they are under pressure then their basics, their foundations, are still the same."
With more than 5000 tickets already sold for the match at Scotstoun, Glasgow would expect home advantage to power them on but, just in case, they also have a secret weapon in Downey, who started his career at Connacht and also spent time down the road at Munster.
"He has being able to give a bit of insight into individual players. He has talked about some of the strengths they bring into the game, and that is great," said Kellock. "One of the things about bringing guys in is to learn from them and from what they picked up with teams they have played with."
Nobody at Glasgow is taking Connacht lightly, partly because they see an image of where they were a few years ago in the Irish province. "Credit to them, but it is not all that many years ago that people would have said the same of us," said Kellock. "Six years ago, I think we were second last in the league; the next year we were competing and we have been there since.
"They will be looking to go on the same journey and we have got to make sure that our standards are as high as they possibly can be, because we are playing a team sitting third in the league. We have to make sure we put in a good performance."
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