Why Glasgow Warriors fans should be excited about Adam Hastings rejoining the club - despite Challenge Cup setback

Stand-off showed glimpses of creativity on tough night

Bashed and bruised, Adam Hastings bid a tearful farewell to Gloucester on Friday evening ahead of his summer return to Glasgow Warriors.

The 36-22 defeat by Sharks in the final of the EPCR Challenge Cup was not how the stand-off wanted to bow out but the English club were second best throughout. Hastings was emotional at the end as the curtain came down on three years at Gloucester and it was fellow Scotland international Chris Harris who consoled him at full-time.

Hastings had little opportunity to impose himself as the South African club’s pack dominated but when the dust has settled and the pain of defeat starts to fade, he will hopefully take some solace from an evening in which he took another step forward on his road to recovery.

Adam Hastings of Gloucester throws up his runners-up medal after the EPCR Challenge Cup final defeat by Sharks at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

In truth, playing the full 80 minutes in a major final was an achievement in itself for Hastings given the horrendous run of injuries he has suffered over the past couple of years. And while Gloucester found themselves outmuscled for the most part there were glimpses of creativity from their No 10 which Warriors supporters will hope to see replicated on a more regular basis next season.

Unfortunately for Hastings, his best moment against the Sharks led to a ‘try’ for Stephen Varney which ended up being chalked off by the TMO. That summed up the fly-half’s night but you could still marvel as he found time and space amid the chaos to find Johnny May with a kick-pass which the winger volleyed for Varney to run on to. Unfortunately for Gloucester, Varney had been in front of Hastings when the ball was kicked.

It was a demonstration of the Scotland international’s vision and technique which remains undimmed by the physical punishment he has endured in recent years. There was also a moment in the first half when he threaded through a lovely grubber only for his two of his team-mates to get in each other’s way and squander the opportunity.

There was bad stuff too, of course - that was inevitable given the balance of play. Hastings was at fault for the Sharks’ first try, rushing out of the line to create space which Phepsi Buthelezi profited from. He was also caught by Grant Williams after delaying his pass too long. More painful, in more ways than one, were the hits he took from Eben Etzebeth, the giant Sharks captain who seemed to home in on Hastings like a heat-seeking missile. The lock crashed into Hastings near the end but the stand-off still managed to offload.

If Scotstoun is his next port of call as far as club rugby is concerned, there remains the possibility that he could revive his international career this summer on the tour of North and South America. Hastings last pulled on the Scotland jersey in autumn 2022 when he scored a try in the win over Fiji. Unfortunately, he was clobbered by Ratu Leone Rotuisolia later in the game and suffered whiplash and knee injuries.

He fought back from that to place himself in contention for Gregor Townsend’s World Cup squad last year only to damage his ankle playing for the World XV against the Barbarians in May. The nightmare continued when, after being named in this season’s Six Nations squad following an impressive performance for Gloucester against Edinburgh, he damaged his knee in the Challenge Cup win over Castres. Hastings missed the entire championship.

He is due an injury-free run and Glasgow and Scotland should be the beneficiaries.