Revitalised Rory Darge opens up on ankle injury, learning to drive and Glasgow Warriors' big push

He missed five months with a serious ankle injury but Rory Darge is returning to fitness and form in time to play a key role as Glasgow Warriors look to turn a good season into a great one.

The Scotstoun side are chasing honours on two fronts and host the Emirates Lions on Saturday in the quarter-finals of the EPCR Challenge Cup. A home victory would see them through to a European semi-final for the first time in the club’s history but the match comes with a health warning: the Lions are the only team to have won against Glasgow recently, beating them 35-24 in Johannesburg in the United Rugby Championship on February 24.

The match at Ellis Park ended the Warriors’ 10-game unbeaten run but also marked Darge’s return and the back-row forward has played another three since, getting progressively stronger and sharper, and was in full flow in last weekend’s 73-33 dismantling of the Dragons in the Challenge Cup round of 16. The Warriors scored a record 11 tries but the one that had most resonance for Darge fans was the ninth which he created from close to his own line, beating a couple of opponents then carrying to almost halfway before George Horne and Kyle Steyn took it on and Huw Jones finished it off. It was a lovely score and seemed to suggest Darge was back to his best, a feeling confirmed by the post-match stats that revealed he had made the joint most tackles (21) and beaten the most defenders (7) across the weekend’s eight last-16 ties. His part in the Jones try was one of two line breaks he made during a match in which Glasgow’s back-row thrust and energy overwhelmed their Welsh opponents. “I enjoyed it. Some of our attacking sets off the set-piece were outstanding,” Darge reflected, although he wasn’t entirely happy. “We can definitely be better in defence, but that’s actually a good thing for this weekend as it means we’ve got things to review and work on.”

It was against Cardiff in the second game of the season that Darge sustained the injury that kept him sidelined for so long, ultimately causing him to miss both the Autumn Nations Series and the Six Nations, although he did rejoin the Scotland squad for the final two matches of the latter without actually playing. “I’m obviously still aware of it after having had fairly serious surgery done on it,” he said of the injury. “But as soon as I had my first proper training session back with the team and got ball in hand, I just kind of forgot about it for a bit. For a wee while before the game, and also during the time away, you think: ‘Will I feel it?’ But no, since I’ve come back in to training and started playing again, I’ve not thought about it too much to be honest.”

It required an operation and a lot of rehab but he used the time wisely. Having also endured a long lay-off last season – again with an ankle injury which caused him to miss the 2021 autumn Tests – Darge was better prepared to cope with the down time.

“Yeah, it’s been a frustrating period for me,” he said. “I’ve obviously had a few injuries now, so I’ve had to deal with this kind of thing before. I think that’s helped me. I’ve also focused on some things outside of rugby. I’ve learned to drive, which I couldn’t do before my last injury. That’s been a big thing for me. It makes such a difference. That’s one thing I’ve learned when you have an injury, just to try and focus on things away from rugby. I was so nervous sitting my test. I was more nervous before my test than I ever have been for any game of rugby! But I passed first time, so I can’t complain. I’ve got myself a car, a wee Suzuki Swift. So, you know, if you see a bad driver on the road driving one of those …”

His focus now is on driving Glasgow to greater heights and ensuring they finish the season with something tangible. “That’s obviously the aspiration. But we’ve got big games coming every week now. We’ve been taking it one game at a time, which has been working for us this season. The Lions this week is a quarter-final first and foremost. It’s at home and it’s going to be a huge game. We lost out there against them in South Africa a few weeks ago, so that’s maybe an added factor for us as well. Looking at the Dragons game last week, we know we need to improve on the defensive side of things.”

For all that they scored 11 tries against the Newport side, Glasgow also conceded five which was a cause of some angst for Franco Smith and his coaching staff, in particular Pete Murchie, their defence guru. Smith will name his team to face the Lions on Friday and he may have to do without Darge’s back-row partner Sione Vailanu who injured his knee against the Dragons. The good news is that Ryan Wilson slotted in to replace the Tongan international on Saturday, reflecting the depth in the squad that Smith has worked hard to build this season. “Competition for places is probably at its highest and most intense now in the couple of years since I joined the club,” said Darge. “That can only be a good thing.”

Rory Darge in full flow during Glasgow Warriors' 73-33 win over the Dragons in the Challenge Cup. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

Like his team-mate, Wilson is returning from a long injury absence and the pair’s appetite will be suitably sharpened for the run-in as Glasgow aim to go all the way in both Europe and the URC. “It’s easy for me to get up for every game because I spent so long on the sidelines watching the boys,” added Darge.