2021–22 Glasgow Warriors season
The 2021–22 season will see Glasgow Warriors compete in the competitions: the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. Season overview. A new league structure was announced on 15 June 2021. With the addition of the 4 "Super Rugby Unlocked" franchises of the Bulls, Sharks, Stormers and the Lions, the Pro14 rebranded itself as the United Rugby Championship. There will be 4 regional conferences with teams playing their regional rivals home and away; and teams from the other conferences either home or away. With 16 teams in total, this means 18 normal matches in  the season before the play-offs. As Scotland and Italy only have 2 teams each in the United Rugby Championship, they were placed in one regional conference; the Irish sides, Welsh sides and South African sides had their own regional conferences respectively. Team. Squad. Scottish Rugby Academy Stage 3 players. These players are given a professional contract by the Scottish Rugby Academy. Although given placements they are not contracted by Glasgow Warriors. Players graduate from the Academy when a professional club contract is offered. These players are assigned to Glasgow Warriors for the season 2021–22. Academy players promoted in the  course of the season are listed with the main squad. Back up players. Other players used by Glasgow Warriors over the course of the season. Competitions. Pre-season and friendlies. The first of two friendlies was confirmed to be against Worcester Warriors. A second friendly, to be played a week before the Worcester match, was confirmed to be against the Newcastle Falcons at Scotstoun Stadium. The side named to play against Newcastle Falcons was affected by several of the Glasgow players being in isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic; and Super 6 players and academy players were drafted into the  Warriors line-up. In the match against Newcastle Falcons, both Ratu Tagive and Kiran McDonald received injuries which will keep them out of action for months. After a collison with Newcastle fullback Mike Brown, Tagive broke his cheekbone, requiring surgery. McDonald took a blow to his kidney in the match. A 'Clash of the Warriors' cup was specially produced for the match with Worcester Warriors. It is intended that a return match at Scotstoun will also play for the cup in the following pre-season. Head Coach Danny Wilson was pleased with the two friendly outings; and especially the Worcester  win. He stated after the 'Clash of the Warriors': Last week wasn’t about winning, it was about the first hit out and getting the lads playing some rugby, but tonight was about coming here to get an away win because our next game will be about winning away so we came here to do that. There were a couple of sticky moments in the first half when they were attacking well and the whole game was very physical, but in the second half in particular some guys took their opportunities so we have some headaches ahead of the first  selection. It is a case of small stepping stones in pre-season, but getting everybody out there playing and no major injuries is good – but we won’t read too much into it. Still, when you set out your stall to play hard and get a win, not just giving people a game, then it is good to get a win and the players will get some confidence because of that. United Rugby Championship. The season's opener was away to Ulster. It was a match the Warriors could have won scoring 4 tries – but unfortunately they conceded 5 tries . There were some positives; 2 bonus points were earned and Rory Darge secured the man of the match. Darge's performance prompted Jack Dempsey to compare his work-rate with that of Australian captain Michael Hooper. The home match against Sharks saw the Warriors quickly secure a bonus point in the first half. Scoring a quick try in the second half, the Warriors game seemed to lose a gear after Sione Tuipulotu ran in for what would have been a sixth try, but the referee Ben Whitehouse chalked it off for obstruction. This let the South African side regroup somewhat  and at the end of the match the Sharks had scored 3 tries; which was an otherwise comfortable game for the Glasgow giants. Glasgow Assistant Coach Peter Murchie was delighted with Glasgow's play up until the Warriors eased off: "I thought we were excellent for the first 50 minutes – we scored some fantastic tries and that’s probably some of the best rugby we’ve played since I’ve been here as a coach." Darge received another man of the match award against the Lions. The Lions proved toothless with no clean breaks in the match but the kicking  of EW Viljoen kept the South African side in contention. Danny Wilson said: "We played so well in the first half and created so much, but it was a little bit forced with the offloads. We were trying to force the issue when we should have been more patient. In the second half, the weather came in and there were more scrums. We didn’t want that, because we knew the scrum was a really powerful weapon for them." European Champions Cup. In a re-run of last season and the season before, Glasgow Warriors were again paired with Exeter  Chiefs in the Champions Cup. The French opposition were La Rochelle, whom Glasgow had also faced in the 2019–20 season. Competitive debuts this season. A player's nationality shown is taken from the nationality at the highest honour for the national side obtained; or if never capped internationally their place of birth. Senior caps take precedence over junior caps or place of birth; junior caps take precedence over place of birth. A player's nationality at debut may be different from the nationality shown. Combination sides like the British and Irish Lions or Pacific Islanders are not national sides, or  nationalities. Players in BOLD font have been capped by their senior international XV side as nationality shown. Players in "Italic" font have capped either by their international 7s side; or by the international XV 'A' side as nationality shown. Players in normal font have not been capped at senior level. A position in parentheses indicates that the player debuted as a substitute. A player may have made a prior debut for Glasgow Warriors in a non-competitive match, 'A' match or 7s match; these matches are not listed. Tournaments where competitive debut made: Crosshatching indicates a jointly hosted match. 2021–22