Murchie aims to grab chance after recovering from dump tackle

PETER Murchie spent an hour yesterday in the company of youngsters at Glasgow’s Sick Children’s Hospital at Yorkhill, thankful to be helping mark Glasgow Warriors’ charity link-up as a bona fide player.

Earlier in the day the 25-year-old was confirmed as one of 11 changes to the side that defeated the Ospreys for Saturday’s Rabo Direct Pro 12 clash with Aironi in Italy. He takes over at full-back from impressive teenager Stuart Hogg, having recovered from a worrying injury in the pre-season win over Newcastle.

Murchie had been out for two months after damaging his shoulder in a lift and dump tackle similar to the one which cost Wales skipper Sam Warburton a red card during the World Cup.

“It is nice to be back,” he said, while taking a break from chatting to five-year-old Greg Steven and 12-year-old Natalie Wardropper, two of more than 150,000 children treated at Yorkhill each year. “It is great to be in here and helping with the kids, and it is good personally to know that I’m finally going to be playing on Saturday.

“Injuries happen, but it was a hard one to take because you go through all pre-season and do the work and then it was kind of all gone. It was a spear tackle and I wasn’t overly chuffed. The ref didn’t pick it up and you can’t cite in a pre-season game. I couldn’t do much for weeks and lost a lot of the strength I picked up over the summer, but I’m past that now and feeling fit and sharp.”

Murchie developed into a key and versatile member of the team last season but knows he faces a battle to regain the No15 jersey from Hogg. A good performance tomorrow against Aironi, who beat Edinburgh earlier this season, could give coach Sean Lineen a selection headache ahead of the opening Heineken Cup match against Murchie’s old club Bath.

“The Heineken Cup is on the horizon and we know that a good performance this weekend gives you a chance of being involved, whereas a bad performance won’t.

“He [Hogg] deserves praise because he’s been playing well. He has come in and taken his chance. Now it’s for me, and all the guys coming in, not let the rest of the guys down.

“The Italians are never easy, but we have a strong squad and Sean has put his trust in us this week by giving us starts so it’s for us to repay that.”

As for Glasgow linking up with a second charity – the Yorkhill Children’s Foundation follows the Hearts and Balls rugby charity as an official cause endorsed by the squad – Murchie added: “It’s great for the club and the hospital.

“If we can make even a five per cent difference to someone’s day, spur them on a little to do a little rehab then it’s worthwhile. It’s coming towards Christmas now and, hopefully, if anyone’s feeling a little bit down we can come in, say hello and give them some things. It doesn’t take much effort on our part to come down and see what we can do to cheer them up.”