'Buzzing': Scotland star sorts out future and puts focus now on league glory

Kyle Rowe is hoping to help Glasgow to more United Rugby Championship title glory after extending his contract for another two years.

The club announced ahead of Friday’s quarter-final showdown with Stormers that the 27-year-old Scotland back, who moved to Scotstoun from London Irish in 2023, has signed a new deal until 2027.

“I’m buzzing to have it done,” said Rowe. “It’s been in the works for quite a while, but I’m glad to get it over the line. I’ve been in contract negotiations throughout my whole career, where it’s kind of gone down to the last few months, but Glasgow have been really good about it. It’s been done and dusted for a few months now, so I’ve been able to just completely focus on my rugby and not have to worry about it.”

Kyle Rowe has extended his stay at Glasgow Warriors. | SNS Group

Glasgow, who had an underwhelming finish to the regulation campaign, are aiming to step up the defence of their URC title when they host South African side Stormers on Friday in a rematch of last year’s quarter-final which they won 27-10 before going on to defeat Munster and Bulls.

“We beat them last year in the quarter-final, but it doesn’t really matter,” said Rowe. “We have to go and do it again on Friday night. We showed last year that we can go all the way, so we know we’ve got that in us. We just need to hone in on what we do really well. Last year it paid dividends and hopefully this year it will as well.

“Obviously, we’ve not been in the form we would have wanted going into the quarter-finals, we’ve not played our best rugby. But we showed against Leinster that we’ve still got that great bit of flair about us as well.

“We’ve just got to park what happened the last few weeks. We came off the back of some bad results, but that’s all done and dusted now. It’s on to just winning these next three games.”

Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith. | SNS Group

Head coach Franco Smith believes Rowe, who has won eight Scotland caps, still has more gears to go through. “Kyle is someone who we believe has only scratched the surface of his potential, and his passion for representing both Glasgow Warriors and Scotland is clear to see whenever he takes to the field,” he said.

“His ability to cover both wing and full-back is a great asset to us as a squad, as is his innate try-scoring ability and willingness to work without the ball.”