GLASGOW WARRIORS head coach Danny Wilson has further boosted his back-three options with the signing of former New Zealand Under-20s full-back Cole Forbes on a ‘multi-year’ deal. The 21-year-old has been training at Scotstoun since the end of January and is expected to be part of the match-day squad for this Sunday's trip to Leinster.
Forbes is the fourth outside-back to put pen to paper with the Scotstoun outfit in the space of a week, following in the footsteps of fellow New Zealander Josh McKay, who will arrive near the start of next season, Rufus McLean, who recently made his breakthrough into the first team during his first season on a senior professional contract, and Ollie Smith, who is graduating from the Warriors academy.
Born in Pukekohe, Forbes first caught the eye when helping Bay of Plenty to the Jock Hobbs Memorial National U19 tournament in New Zealand, before going on to make his senior debut for the province in the Mitre10 Cup. He is Scottish-qualified through his grandfather, was part of the New Zealand squad for the 2019 World Rugby U20 Championship.
“I always wanted to go overseas with my rugby if the opportunity came up, and Glasgow were keen to bring me over and have a look at me,” he said. “All the boys have been great since I arrived. They’ve all really helped me out – coming in halfway through a season is always difficult but they’ve helped me fit in really well.”
“The style of rugby is definitely different to back in New Zealand – there’s a lot more kicking up here so I’ve been making sure my game under the high ball is a big focus in training.
ICYMI | Former New Zealand U20 and Scottish qualified back Cole Forbes has joined Glasgow Warriors after impressing on trial, with a former Warrior having played a key role in facilitating the switch north.
— Glasgow Warriors (@GlasgowWarriors) February 25, 2021
Read: https://t.co/Wpa7ERxxln#WhateverItTakes ⚔️🛡️ pic.twitter.com/TEsevqlYaW
READ MORE: Glasgow Warriors forwards coach Kelly Brown to leave role
“It’s a really exciting time to join the club, and I can’t wait for my first opportunity to run out in a Glasgow shirt. I want to show what I can do and thank the Glasgow coaches for giving me the chance every time I represent this proud city.”
Wilson added: “Cole has really impressed us since joining in January. He’s a back-three player with pace, good footwork and has shown a defensive physical presence already in training
“He joins us with experience playing in the Mitre10 Cup and has previously represented New Zealand U20s. Cole has worked hard in training and shown a lot of promise. We look forward to seeing what he can do in the Warriors jersey.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here