Stafford McDowall urges Glasgow Warriors to dig deep to cope with World Cup absentees

When Glasgow Warriors kick off their new United Rugby Championship campaign against Leinster at Scotstoun on October 22 it is likely to be a case of who copes best without their World Cup contingent.

Glasgow Warriors' Stafford McDowall scored nine tries in 18 starts last season and won his first Scotland cap. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

The Warriors had 15 players away with Scotland, while back-rower Sione Vailanu who was part of the Tonga squad. Their return will be managed carefully over the coming weeks and it looks as if the Glasgow pack will be hit particularly hard. As well as Vailanu, Jamie Bhatti, Scott Cummings, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey, Matt Fagerson, Zander Fagerson, Richie Gray, George Turner and Johnny Matthews all got game-time in France. Half-a-dozen backs were also involved, with George Horne, Huw Jones, Ali Price, Ollie Smith, Kyle Steyn and Sione Tuipulotu all appearing for Scotland.

Leinster can top even that. They had 18 of their players in Ireland’s World Cup party but the club’s formidable strength in depth suggests they may be better equipped to deal with the absences.

Stafford McDowall, the Glasgow centre, knows it will be a case of utilising their full squad during the early weeks of the URC as Warriors follow Leinster with games against Connacht, Stormers and Ospreys, and he’s confident head coach Franco Smith’s rotation policy of last season will pay dividends.

“Things are obviously a bit different this season because a lot of teams have got players away,” said McDowall. “You could say that this is potentially a good time to get Leinster or the Stormers but then again with Leinster it doesn’t seem to matter who they put out because they don’t seem to have a weaker team. We had 15 away with Scotland and Sione Vailanu away with Tonga, so that’s 16 in total. Edinburgh are probably similar, and Leinster too. It’s going to have a massive influence and it’s going to test teams and their squad depth.

“I think everyone knows that Franco rotated his squad quite well last season so everyone seems a bit battle-hardened and has had a run-out in the URC and hopefully that’ll stand us in good stead.”

Smith galvanised Glasgow last season. They finished fourth in the URC, up four places from the previous campaign, and reached the final of the European Challenge Cup. McDowall was one of many who flourished. He scored nine tries in 18 starts and forced his way into Scotland’s World Cup training squad, making his international debut in the summer Test against Italy. Although he was cut from the final squad which went to the tournament, McDowall hopes another successful season with Glasgow can lead to more caps.

“In the past, I’ve been involved in Scotland squads here and there, maybe as injury cover and I’ve been in and out,” he said. “At the start of last season I wasn’t really thinking about it at all whereas this season, being involved in the wider World Cup training squad and getting a cap, it does make you hungry for more knowing that you are a bit closer than you were in years gone by, and it does give you extra motivation to have a bit more confidence to really push for it. But for me, it’s all about trying to play well for Glasgow first and hopefully getting called into squads will come off the back of that.”