Ross Thompson’s return at Glasgow Warriors is a timely reminder for Franco Smith of his talents at ten

The return of Ross Thompson is the sort of early Christmas present Glasgow Warriors supporters have probably been writing to Santa about.

The Scotland international stand-off started his first game in 18 months on Friday night and played the full 80 minutes as Glasgow beat Bayonne 12-11 in France to get their Investec Champions Cup campaign up and running. Last season was a non-starter for Thompson, 24, who underwent operations on his back and foot and he has had to be patient for his opportunity under Franco Smith as the Glasgow coach relied on Tom Jordan as his go-to man at 10.

“It’s been challenging and frustrating,” admitted Thompson. “Last season was a write-off with a couple of injuries back to back and, to be brutally honest, I’ve just not been picked for the first couple of rounds this season, because I’ve been fit. It’s been difficult but I knew that I’d get my opportunity and you just need to grab it.”

Thompson played with a calm authority during the win in the Basque country and hopes to have done enough to convince Smith of his value as Glasgow go into a busy festive period which will see them play Edinburgh home and away in the traditional 1872 Cup double-header. “He wanted me to get a good whack of training before I got my opportunity,” added Thompson. “There’s loads of things that I can keep working on and I’ll do that next week.”

Ross Thompson has had to be patient for his chance at Glasgow Warriors under Franco Smith. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

It was during the 1872 Cup matches three years ago that Thompson made his breakthrough for Glasgow. He made his debut off the bench in a narrow defeat at Murrayfield then had his first start in the victory at Scotstoun a fortnight later. Such was his impact in the second half of the campaign that he was voted Glasgow’s player of the season and the future looked bright for the fly-half. He was called up by Scotland and made his international debut against Tonga in October 2021, converting two tries in the 60-14 win. He then toured Argentina the following summer but was dogged by injury on his return. His last start for Glasgow came in the 76-14 hammering by Leinster in the URC quarter-finals in June 2022 and Friday night’s game was his first start under Smith.

He sees his current situation as similar to when he had to be patient for his first opportunity at Glasgow under Danny Wilson’s tenure. The difference now is that he thinks he can be an even better player than he was then.

“I was probably in a similar sort of position where I was banging on the door and desperate for my opportunity,” he said. “When I got it, I had to take it. I’d been through the process before. I’d like to be involved as much as possible from now on. I’ve always been eager to play, so I just have to wait and see for next week.

“I want to get back and be even better than I was before. I feel like I’m training well and have been around a little bit longer. I’ve maybe not played as much recently, but I still feel like I can grow as a player. I want to play in these big games and contribute to Glasgow winning something. That’s the thing that everyone here is looking to do.”