GLASGOW Warriors have continued their squad-building for next season by agreeing a new two-year contract with Rory Hughes, who will make his comeback from knee surgery tonight in the crunch PRO12 game against the Scarlets.
The 2015 champions have also signed stand-off Brandon Thomson on a short-term deal from the Stormers and, while the South-African-based player will not be involved tonight, he could have a crucial role to play over the coming weeks as the Warriors seek to cement their place in the play-offs.
Thomson will aim to get match fit by playing for Stirling County tomorrow before coming into consideration for the Warriors’ next game. He is only here for two months – at least for now – but with Finn Russell away on Scotland and Peter Horne recovering from injury, he could see a lot of action during that time.
“I was over in Zimbabwe playing a warm-up game for the Stormers when I got the call to say I could fly over here and it all happened pretty quickly,” the 21-year-old said. “I came over with the main goal of getting some experience and it’s good to play in a different environment and for a great club.
“I’m structured, physical and I like to run the ball out wide and keep the game loose. My father is from Scotland, so it’s nice to be able to come over here to play.”
With Warriors players making up the bulk of the Scotland squad, head coach Gregor Townsend welcomed the chance to introduce a quality player to the ranks at a pivotal point in the season. “It’s a bonus for us to be able to bring in someone of Brandon’s quality and potential during a period when we have a number of players away on Test duty,” he said.
“He has fitted in really well so far and even training in the snow yesterday didn’t seem to phase him. We look forward to seeing how he performs over the next few weeks.”
Hughes, meanwhile, is looking forward to performing with the team for the foreseeable future. “I’m delighted to be staying at Scotstoun for another couple of years,” the 23-year-old said. “It was an easy decision to stay in my home city and continue to play for my home club. “I’ve been enjoying my rugby this season, especially playing at Scotstoun with the boys in front of the crowd, and although my injury has set me back I’m eager to get back out on the pitch soon.”
As well as Hughes, Richie Vernon and Scott Cummings are back from injury, while three members of the wider Scotland squad have been released to play tonight: scrum-half Henry Pyrgos, prop Alex Allan and flanker Rob Harley. “We’ve got three guys back, and the bonus is that they came in on Friday and did a session,” Townsend went on. “We’ve not had them this week until today, and that is tough for them more than us as coaches, but it was great that they could come in on Friday and we’ve put things up online for them to look at in terms of plays and they’ve all done their homework.
“You’re talking about three very professional players. Henry is our captain, Rob is our most-capped player, and Alex is very professional. So we feel they’ll get into it very quickly.
“. The squad has trained really well over the past two weeks and we have a group of players that can’t wait to get back on the field.”
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