Returning Leone Nakarawa can be a ‘game-breaker’ for Glasgow Warriors

Glasgow coach Danny Wilson is hoping “game-breaker” Leone Nakarawa can play some part in Saturday’s rearranged 1872 Cup clash with Edinburgh.

Glasgow Warriors’ Leone Nakarawa has not played for almost a year due to a knee injury. Picture: Paul Devlin/SNS

The Fijian talisman has not played for almost a year but is on course to return at Scotstoun, weather permitting.

The match was frozen off 15 minutes before kick-off last Friday but the forecast looks more promising this time around, with a temperature of around six degrees expected on Saturday at around 5.15pm when the game is due to kick off.

It’s not quite as warm as Tavua but the return of Nakarawa will be warmly welcomed by the Warriors fans.

His decision in the summer to remain with Glasgow was seen as a major coup for Wilson but a knee injury has robbed the coach of the former European player of the year’s services all season.

Nakarawa, one of the game’s great offloaders, can play in either the second or back row but Wilson sees him returning at lock.

“Right now he’s coming back from a long-term injury so the best option for him is in the second row when there’s not so much of a demand in the open spaces when he’s not got games under his belt,” said the Warriors coach.

“He hasn’t played for almost a year now, since last February, which is such a long time. With the knee injury he’s had he has to get the right exposure in the right position.”

In a season littered with setbacks, the absence of Nakarawa has been keenly felt by Glasgow and Wilson underlined just what the 32-year-old brings to the side.

“The key difference with Leone is his ability to off-load. That can break a game up. When you’re playing against well-organised defences you need a game breaker, someone who in a one-on-one situation draws more defenders and can then get the ball away.

“He’s a nightmare to play against when he’s on form. You could try to wrap him up with two or three players but he gets his hands free and those off-loads stick. Other players try that and they can’t off-load or they don’t stick. Leone can break open a game. And all you need is one off-load and all of a sudden you’ve got a line break and then you need to convert.”

Nakarawa came through a tough training session on Tuesday and, provided there is no reaction, he will be in the squad which will attempt to level the 1872 Cup series following Edinburgh’s 10-7 win in the first match at BT Murrayfield on January 2.

“He trained again today in what we call a red session - a high-intensity session,” Wilson said. “He seems to have got through that. Obviously he will wake up tomorrow morning, another day off, and hopefully there is no flare-up with his knee, and if that’s the case we should get him to a place where he’ll have some involvement this weekend.

“If there’s any last-minute issues that might knock it on a week, which it has done before with Leone. But hopefully he’ll be involved this week.”

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