Glasgow Warriors issued a medical update yesterday which confirmed that Rory Darge is set to miss Scotland’s four-match Autumn Test schedule and indicated that he is a major doubt for the Six Nations which kicks-off at the start of February, following a serious ankle injury suffered during the club’s victory over Cardiff on Friday night.

The 22-year-old flanker, who was Scotland’s breakthrough star last season, underwent successful surgery on the dislocated joint on Saturday morning and “will now begin rehabilitation that will see him out of action for several months”.

There was, however, some happier news for Warriors fans yesterday with the club confirming that two other promising youngsters in full-back Ollie Smith and stand-off Ross Thompson have returned to training after missing the start of the season with back injuries and are in contention to play in next Saturday’s away match against the Ospreys.

Tongan No 8 Sione Vailanu, who was a summer signing from Worcester Warriors, is also closing in on his debut for the Scotstoun outfit having recovered from a period of sickness.

Meanwhile, Warriors specialist skills coach Pete Horne has predicted that Tom Jordan will become a key player at the club and suggested that the New Zealander may even compete for international honours with Scotland once he completes the five-year residency requirement in two years’ time.

The 24-year-old midfielder came to prominence in this country playing Super6 with Ayrshire Bulls, and first began training with Warriors during lockdown, before signing his first contract with the club last November – but United Rugby Championship rules permit a maximum of two non-European players in a team at any point and this meant Jordan's debut did not happen until new head coach Franco Smith handed him the No 10 jersey for the opening match of this season away to Benetton two weekends ago.

It was an inauspicious start with Warriors slumping to a 33-11 defeat, but Smith kept faith with the new-look backline he had selected for that game, and they repaid his loyalty with a much-improved performance against Cardiff on Friday night during which Glasgow ran in eight tries and played with an attacking elan reminiscent of the glory days under Gregor Townsend and Dave Rennie.

“I’ve been a big fan of TJ’s ever since he came in to train with us during Covid,” explained Horne. “I love his enthusiasm. Off the ball, he works so hard, and he’s not shy of chucking himself about.

“He can do it all. He can play, he can break tackles, he’s got great feet and he can create for other people. I’m big of his and I think he’s going to have a big future.

“Last year, Jack Dempsey and Josh McKay were two of the first names on the team-sheet a lot of the time, so it meant there was no space for TJ because of the foreign player rule,” Horne continued. “And even in those periods when one of those guys was out with injury, it tended to be at times when we needed Enrique Pieretto, who is also a foreigner, at prop.

“So, it is testament to his character that even with that he trained the house down, and all the coaches at the club at the time were saying they would love to have him out there on the pitch on match-day.”

“Obviously an opportunity has come up this year. He’s ended up having to play a bit at 10 but he’s doing great. On the weekend there he really grew into it, and once he settled after that first 20 minutes, he was excellent.

“I see him having a big future at 12 but he’s got all the skills to jump in and play 10 as well.

“He becomes a Scottish resident at the start of November – same as Enrique – after three years in the country, so although he’s not available for the national team for another couple of years, he counts as a Scottish resident for the league.”

Horne agreed that it would have been very easy for Smith to drop Jordan and go for a more experienced figure such as Argentinean international Domingo Miotti or Scottish veteran Duncan Weir in the crucial stand-off slot – and he praised his boss for holding his nerve.

“There was a lot of guys in that boat,” said Horne. “It was so doom and gloom on the flight home, and it is easy after you have a performance and result like that to say: ‘That was terrible, not good enough I’m going to make 10 changes’, whereas it might be better to say: ‘You know what? We got it right, but you guys didn’t have a good game, so get back out there and show us what you can do.’

“Franco did that, and I felt like everyone had a point to prove – they wanted to repay that faith.”