George Horne injury adds to Glasgow Warriors' scrum-half problems as ‘Project Price’ comes back to bite

Glasgow Warriors’ scrum-half problems have worsened with the news that George Horne is out of Saturday’s home match against Ulster with a hamstring injury.

It comes a week after Jamie Dobie was ruled out for 12 to 14 weeks due to ankle surgery, and a fortnight after Ali Price left to join Edinburgh on loan “in the national interest”. Glasgow have gone from having three available international scrum-halves to none and it means a first start in more than two-and-a-half years for Sean Kennedy, with rookie Ben Afshar on the bench.

Franco Smith, the club’s head coach, talked it up as a chance for Kennedy and Afshar to stake a claim but he knows the Warriors are one injury away from a full-blown crisis and is still looking to bring in a new No 9. Smith is on record as saying he didn’t want Price to leave but acceded to the wishes of the Scotland national team who felt he would have more game-time at Edinburgh. ‘Project Price’ has done Glasgow no favours and it’s sod’s law that they have lost two scrum-halves since the season-long loan deal was struck. Horne was injured in last weekend’s win over Benetton and Smith was unsure if he would be fit enough for next week’s away game against Munster. “He might be. We’ll see how he reacts to the treatment,” said the coach.

“Last week George got a little tweak on his hamstring after being cleaned out at a breakdown – he tried to steal a ball but got pummelled out of the breakdown. He shouldn’t have been there from the start, but anyway he was – he’s a competitive man. He got a little tweak on a hamstring, nothing serious, but going forward in a competition with Europe around the corner and important derbies coming up, we weren’t going to take any risks with him.”

Scrum-half Sean Kennedy is making his first start in Glasgow Warriors colours since March 2021. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

Instead, Kennedy will be given a rare opportunity to start for Glasgow as they look to continue an impressive start to the season which has seen them win four from five. The 32-year-old is in his second stint with the club but Smith believes there is still more to come from the player.

“For the last few seasons Sean Kennedy has sat behind three international scrum-halves, basically,” said the coach. “I said to him the other day, maybe we’ve lost Ali Price, but we have definitely gained in Sean Kennedy. He’s another player that’s got a lot of potential still, he’s still got a lot to offer to the team, he’s very solid in his approach. We’re going to need the scrum-halves this season down the line, all best prepared and ready, so I think Sean’s ability to make a game flow and make sure that we’re well organised and his kicking ability are some of his good attributes.

“The same with young Ben Afshar. We identified him last year as someone with real potential. He’s been playing well - he played well in the Super Series final, and in the semi-final. He’s come along well in the way we want him to regarding his general play, and he’s learned to apply his individual ability to our team, so I’m very excited to see him as well.”

Edinburgh-born Afshar came through the Warriors academy and co-captained Scotland Under-20 at the World Rugby U20 Trophy in Kenya in the summer. He helped Stirling Wolves defeat the Ayrshire Bulls in the Super Series final last weekend and is line to make his Glasgow debut against Ulster.

“Obviously this is a grand occasion for Ben Afshar to announce himself to the big league, so the focus is more on that and we’ll see how we build in that area,” added Smith who has been casting his net around for potential new scrum-halves. “We’re challenged in the nine area, but we want to prove to ourselves and to the players that we can bridge the adversity that we face.”

While ‘Project Price’ has backfired on Glasgow, they deserve great credit for the start they’ve made to the season. Ulster, runners-up in the URC standings last season, will provide a stern test and include double World Cup winner Steven Kitshoff on the bench. It’s the Springbok prop’s first outing for his new club.

“They know how important the set-piece is and Kitshoff is world-class – we all know that,” said Smith. “He’s already played in this competition more than enough for the Stormers, so he knows what is expected. He’s a great addition to the club and it adds to their quality players. They’ve added more value with the foreigners and we expect a really tough Ulster team.”

Glasgow welcome back Jack Dempsey for the first time since the World Cup and the No 8 will be joined by the returning Rory Darge in the back row, replacing Sione Vailanu and Thomas Gordon, respectively. There’s a new pairing in the second row, with Greg Peterson and Scott Cummings coming in for Sintu Manjezi and Richie Gray. Zander Fagerson is also back and takes over from Lucio Sordoni as starting tighthead prop. The game at Scotstoun is close to a sell-out with only 100 tickets remaining as of Friday.

Meanwhile, Edinburgh’s 'A' team beat their Glasgow Warriors counterparts 27-26 at Scotstoun on Friday afternoon in what Smith said was “a high quality game”.

Glasgow Warriors v Ulster (URC, Scotstoun, Saturday, 7.35pm. TV: live on Viaplay)

Glasgow Warriors: 15. Josh McKay; 14. Sebastian Cancelliere, 13. Sione Tuipulotu, 12. Stafford McDowall (capt), 11. Kyle Rowe; 10. Tom Jordan, 9. Sean Kennedy; 1. Jamie Bhatti, 2. George Turner, 3. Zander Fagerson, 4. Greg Peterson, 5. Scott Cummings, 6. Matt Fagerson, 7. Rory Darge, 8. Jack Dempsey.

Replacements: 16. Johnny Matthews, 17. Oli Kebble, 18. Lucio Sordoni, 19. Richie Gray, 20. Sintu Manjezi, 21. Sione Vailanu, 22. Ben Afshar, 23. Duncan Weir.

Ulster: 15. Will Addison; 14. Rob Baloucoune, 13. James Hume, 12. Luke Marshall, 11. Jacob Stockdale; 10. Billy Burns, 9. John Cooney; 1. Eric O’Sullivan, 2. Tom Stewart, 3. Tom O’Toole, 4. Kieran Treadwell, 5. Iain Henderson (capt), 6. Harry Sheridan, 7. Reuben Crothers, 8. James McNabney.

Replacements: 16. Zac Solomon, 17. Steven Kitshoff, 18. Marty Moore, 19. Alan O’Connor, 20. Matty Rea, 21. Dave Shanahan, 22. Jake Flannery, 23. Ben Moxham.

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU).