'Straight in': Kyle Steyn talks up two Glasgow Warriors team-mates for Scotland
There’s a lot to like about Glasgow Warriors at the moment and a big part of that has been the form of Tom Jordan and Sione Tuipulotu.
The pair have been outstanding this season, continuing from where they left off in the last campaign which ended so memorably at Loftus Versfeld.
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Hide AdBoth contributed hugely to the Warriors’ win in Cardiff last week and are likely to feature in Friday’s home game against Zebre. With the autumn Tests just around the corner, the hope is that Scotland can benefit too from Glasgow’s highly potent midfield axis. Jordan, a New Zealander, will become eligible for Scotland in November on residency grounds after spending five years in this country.
The 26-year-old has been reluctant to speak publicly about his international ambitions, understandably perhaps because he doesn’t want to appear presumptuous, but Kyle Steyn, his club captain, has no doubts Jordan is ready for the step up.
“If you are asking anyone from Glasgow then he will be straight in,” said Steyn. “He’s a top-class professional and I really like his mindset and physicality from No 10. There’s a lot of value that he can add to the national set-up.”
Jordan is equally adept at 12 but it has been at stand-off that he has made his mark at Warriors after being given his chance right at the start of the Franco Smith regime. No one has played more URC games for the club than him since Smith took over in summer 2022 and his ability to blend playmaking skills with pugnacity has made him one of the stand-out players in the league.
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Hide AdJordan initially caught the eye playing for Ayrshire Bulls and was man of the match in the 2021 Super6 final win over Southern Knights. He had already trained with Glasgow Warriors by that point and he signed his first pro deal in November 2021. But opportunities were limited under Smith’s predecessor, Danny Wilson, and Jordan had to wait until the South African took over before he got his chance.
Although Jordan is now firmly established, Glasgow’s decision to bring back Adam Hastings from Gloucester in the summer has increased the competition at 10 and Steyn has backed Jordan to the challenge.
“We all know about the competitive spirit that he’s had for the last two seasons,” said the skipper. “It took him a while to break into the Glasgow team and we saw that competitive nature, took his chance and ran with it. Hasto is a competitive spirit too and the competition between them both will be brilliant for us.”
Not surprisingly, Steyn is similarly effusive about Tuipulotu who spoke last month about his ambitions to be part of the British & Irish Lions’ tour to Australia next summer. On current form, Steyn thinks he should go.
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Hide Ad“Certainly,” said the winger. “He was in a class of his own on Friday and he’s pulling boys up to his level all around him. He’s having such a good impact on the group. Everybody can see how he’s going about his business through the week and how that is benefitting him on the weekend. I’m buzzing for him and his family - hopefully that keeps up.”
Steyn, also in fine form, will not, unfortunately, be available to face Zebre on Friday. He injured his shin in the win over Benetton last month but is hopeful of being fit for Glasgow’s mini-tour to South Africa where they will play the Sharks and Stormers on October 19 and 26.
“I won’t be fit this Friday but touch wood, I’ll feature in South Africa at some stage,” he said. “Hopefully Franco still wants to pick me. It was a fairly innocuous [injury] but I probably got slightly better news than I was expecting for once. I was chuffed because I thought I was facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines. I got injured in the second game against Connacht last season so I told Franco that I’m not playing the second game again next season! I’m relieved the injury wasn’t as bad as I initially feared.
“It’s a lower leg injury. We thought it could be an injury to the bone, but it’s just one of the ligaments that I’ve partially torn.”
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Hide AdAs things stand, Steyn is on course to recover in good time for the November Tests which will see Scotland face Fiji, South Africa, Portugal and Australia at Murrayfield. The Glasgow captain was excellent in his club’s first two games of the season but knows competition for the wing berths in the national side is intense, with Edinburgh pair Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham both pushing hard. Kyle Rowe, his Glasgow team-mate, is another who is certain to be involved. Graham missed most of last season through injury and is still getting up to speed but Steyn expects the Hawick flyer to get better as he plays more games for Edinburgh.
“Everything I do is to push for a starting place with Scotland,” said Steyn. “But I’m not an idiot about what the competition looks like because Duhan is a cracking player and Darcy will be finding his feet after a long time out. He’s a class player and he will get there. I’m not going to put energy into what they do because I need to get back on the pitch for Glasgow and perform again.”
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