Glasgow Warriors youngster aims to learn from the best - even if they make him ‘look silly’

Duncan Munn had a brief taste of first-team action for Glasgow Warriors last season and the young midfield back hopes training alongside the country’s best centres will help him kick on when the new campaign gets underway.

Munn, 21, is likely to be involved on Saturday night when Glasgow take on Zebre in Parma in their first pre-season game, with head coach Franco Smith expected to select a young squad.

Smith, who played stand-off and centre, has shown his willingness to give youth a chance at Glasgow and Munn intends to take on board all the advice he can from the South African who guided the club to the United Rugby Championship title last season. With Scotland trio Sione Tuipulotu, Huw Jones and Stafford McDowall competing for the centre berths there is no shortage of mentors to learn from.

Duncan Munn during a Glasgow Warriors training session at Scotstoun Stadium. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

“Physically it's about working in the gym and putting on more size, and then trying to kick on from last season,” said Munn who made his debut as a late replacement in last season’s home victory over over Cardiff then came on again in the away win over the Scarlets. “At the same time, I want to learn from the other centres and the other boys here - there's great competition with Sione, Huw, Staff, TJ [Tom Jordan], Josh McKay and Kyle Steyn - they are all really good.

“I think Franco is a guy you listen to, isn't he? Anything he says, you soak it in. Since he's played my position, he knows what it takes to be a quality centre so you definitely pay extra attention to the detail of what he's coaching.”

Munn, who co-captained Scotland U20 during the 2023 U20 Six Nations, knows he has a job on his hand to dislodge the likes of Tuipulotu, Jones, McDowall and Jordan but will continue to strive to improve.

“Pushing them out the team will be pretty hard,” he said. “They're all really good with us. They invite us over and ask if there's anything I want to work on. They do make you look a bit silly in training at times but you do learn from it. It has helped me massively. I can feel my own game developing and building from theirs.”