'I want to get back in' - George Turner keen to build on second Glasgow Warriors start of the season

George Turner has had a stop-start season and is keen to get motoring as Glasgow Warriors go into the festive period looking to build on back to back away wins.

George Turner during Glasgow Warriors training ahead of Friday's match against Perpignon. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

The hooker was part of the side which beat Bath at the Rec in the Challenge Cup on Saturday but it was only his second club start of the season. A run-in with South African colossus Eben Etzebeth in Durban sidelined him for a spell and he then injured his shoulder while playing for Scotland against Fiji during the Autumn Nations Series, causing him to miss the New Zealand match the following week.

He’s now fit and firing and ready for a run of three Friday fixtures which, weather permitting, will see Glasgow host Perpignan in the Challenge Cup and then face Edinburgh home and away in the 1872 Cup/URC.

It was a much changed Warriors side which won at Bath at the weekend, with debuts for Jack Mann, Angus Fraser and Cameron Neild and Turner felt the new blood helped lift the team.

“Franco had spoken about the team he had picked and the energy of the new boys. The mix and energy they brought was what Franco believed we needed and it turned out it was. It was good.

“I've been a senior player for a bit now. I naturally shout at everyone anyway. I just have to think a bit more about what I'm saying.

“We were confident going down. It felt good going down. The team was well drilled and we had a good game plan to play against them. We knew how to shut them down and we came away with the win.”

Turner helped get the ball rolling at the Rec, scoring Glasgow’s second try as they made a flying start, and the hooker is keen to maintain the momentum, starting with Perignan at Scotstoun.

“I've had my breaks. I want to get back in,” he said. “That was my second start of the season, the first being Sharks where it didn't go too well because I came off before half-time after being pulverised by Etzebeth. I want to get as much game time as possible.”

Perpignan are second bottom of the Top 14 but are not without their threats. They led Racing 92 at half-time in Paris last month and it was only Finn Russell’s introduction from the bench in the second half that turned the game in the home side’s favour. Turner is rightly wary and dismissed the notion that Perpignan will be too focused on preserving their top-flight status in France to worry about the Challenge Cup.

“It is always dangerous to start thinking that way,” he said. “We're preparing to play a big French team who can be dangerous from anywhere. They have massive forwards who will be good at set piece and will knock us up if we don't switch on properly. We want to win back at home on Friday night. We love it here and it's a big game.”