Ross Thompson: What Glasgow Warriors to Edinburgh move means for Scotland stand-off and the Ben Healy factor

Fly-half signs one-year deal with move along M8

When Ross Thompson landed an awards double at the end of the 2020-21 Covid season, he looked assured of a bright future with Glasgow Warriors and international recognition seemed imminent.

The stand-off, who won the club’s player and young player of the year prizes, went on to win three full Scotland caps, but the last couple of seasons have seen him struggle for game-time and his move to Edinburgh – announced on Thursday – makes sense for all parties. Injuries conspired to rob him of virtually the entire 2022-23 campaign but it is clear Franco Smith prefers Tom Jordan at 10 for Glasgow and, with Adam Hastings rejoining the Scotstoun club imminently and Duncan Weir proving himself to be a still valuable member of the squad, Thompson’s opportunities at the Warriors looked set to diminish further.

The 25-year-old will move along the M8 on a one-year deal and will try to reignite his career under Sean Everitt. The Edinburgh coach described him as “a really smart player with a great understanding of the game” and “a strong decision-maker” but that description would apply equally to Ben Healy, the incumbent in the club’s No 10 jersey and the player Thompson must now vie with. It won’t be easy. Healy’s first season at Edinburgh has seen the former Munster man quickly establish himself as first-choice pivot with a metronomic kicking ability. He has started every one of the club’s games in the URC and is the league’s top scorer with 153 points, boasting an 84 per cent success rate off the tee.

Ross Thompson trains with Scotland at Oriam in February this year. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

The latter point is an important one because one of Everitt’s key aims when he arrived last summer was to improve the club’s goalkicking accuracy which sat at a lowly 62 per cent in the league. He’s done that and his recruitment of Thompson will only help in that regard because the Edinburgh-born fly-half is as surefooted as Healy in front of the posts. But he needs to play. He will be further up the pecking order at his new club where the only other stand-off is the promising but inexperienced Cammy Scott and Everitt may feel that the recruitment of Thompson will allow him to give Healy the occasional week off.

For Thompson, it’s the chance to reboot a career that looked full of dazzling possibilities not so long ago. The former Glasgow Hawks and Ayrshire Bulls player announced himself with a man-of-the-match performance in his first start for Glasgow in the 1872 Cup win over Edinburgh, having impressed off the bench against the same opponents in the first leg. This was in January 2021 and the then 22-year-old nailed down the 10 jersey for the remainder of the season, helping Danny Wilson’s side finish strongly to claim a place in the Champions Cup and earning the awards double at the club’s player of the year dinner.

The following season he continued where he left off and made his Scotland debut off the bench in the autumn win over Tonga at Murrayfield. Glasgow struggled as the season wore on and the hammering they suffered at the hands of Leinster in the URC play-offs cost Wilson his job. Thompson played regularly and was called up for Scotland’s summer tour of Argentina, sitting on the bench for all three Test matches and coming on in the final two.

Then came the injury-interrupted 2022-23 campaign where he at least remained on Gregor Townsend’s radar, featuring in the squad for the autumn Test with Australia. This season has seen him used sporadically but he made a notable contribution to Glasgow’s highly impressive away win over Bayonne in the Champions Cup and the home victory over Edinburgh in the first leg of the 1872 Cup. There have only been three starts since and Thompson will now have the chance to move to a new environment where opportunities are likely to be more bountiful.

Ben Healy's kicking stats have been impressive for Edinburgh this season.

The stand-off played schools rugby at Stewart’s Melville alongside Connor Boyle and Jamie Hodgson so there will be familiar faces in the squad and he is returning to his hometown. “Personally, I want to continue to improve as a player and get the most out of myself and I believe that being at Edinburgh is the right place for that,” said Thompson who combined playing for the Warriors with studying for a law degree at the University of Glasgow.

Everitt hopes the squad will benefit from the increased competition at 10 and believes the move can reinvigorate Thompson. “He is a proven goal-kicker and a fine game manager,” said the coach. “We’re confident he will thrive in our environment and contribute significantly to the team next season.”