Jamie Dobie marked out as the ‘real deal’ at Glasgow Warriors

In years to come, it will turn into one of those “I was there moments” – the time when Jamie Dobie got the ball about his own half ten-yard line, spotted a gap, raced through it, pushed the next would-be tackler away and hared downfield, outpacing his chasers.
Jamie Dobie, who was signed straight from school, is very highly rated by Glasgow Warriors. Picture: SNS/SRUJamie Dobie, who was signed straight from school, is very highly rated by Glasgow Warriors. Picture: SNS/SRU
Jamie Dobie, who was signed straight from school, is very highly rated by Glasgow Warriors. Picture: SNS/SRU

In the end the backfield cover came across and caught him a yard short of a wonder solo try but his team-mates got there and a couple of phases later the score came, completing the most memorable moment of last week’s match against Zebre where, don’t forget, there were eight Glasgow Warriors tries competing for glory.

For Kenny Murray, the assistant coach, inset, it was just the most recent piece of action Dobie has produced to impress him: “The fact we signed him as a pro straight out of school shows how much we feel he is the real deal,” Murray said.

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“He’s got a bit of everything. What I really like about him is that he’s a very good tackler. George [Horne] and Ali [Price, the two Scotland scrum-halves at Glasgow] are good defenders and Jamie, at such a young age is a good defender who also has that attacking ability. You think back to guys like Gary Armstrong who was an extra back row for Scotland. I reckon Jamie can have the same physicality in his game.

“He’s also very quick and has a good pass. He’s got a lot of parts and he can be the real deal. The only thing he doesn’t have is experience, which is what he’ll get going through these games.”

The thing to remember about Dobie is that he is the first full-time Glasgow player born this century – June 2001 to be precise. He is the first Scottish player since Blair Kinghorn to skip academies and go straight from school into a full-time contract, and that alone marks him out as one to watch.

“There are not many players at either Glasgow or Edinburgh who sign straight out of school so the fact he did that highlights how highly we rate him. Dave [Rennie, the head coach] and myself went to watch him, he has a lot of potential,” Murray recalled.

“There’s a lot of competition, he’s up against two international scrum-halfs [Ali Price and George Horne]. He has to oust them to get game time so that will be good for him. It will push his standards up.

“He’s developed a lot. He’s not played a great deal so a lot of his development has been on the training pitch. He’s a great guy, he’s determined to improve. He’s been patient.

“He knows there’s a pecking order he has to push up but this [the Six Nations] provides a window where young guys can get opportunities. Look at the likes of [Scott] Cummings and [Matt] Fagerson – they had to bide their time but took their chances.”

Last week was a 25-minute cameo for Dobie that certainly gives him an outside chance of a first starting spot against the Dragons this weekend – the experienced, and more likely, option is Nick Frisby but Dobie needs to get a run sometime soon.

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With Ryan Wilson likely to be at the back of the scrum and Peter Horne, another knowledgeable head, outside him, there is plenty of experience around to make the gamble worthwhile and justify holding him back from the Under-20s campaign for club duties.

As far as this weekend goes, Murray recalls with a shudder just how badly Glasgow played when they faced the Dragons and lost in Newport in October and knows the return match is one they cannot afford to lose if they are to maintain their drive for a Guinness Pro14 play-off spot.