Welsh ready to try again as he returns from injury

JON Welsh has a reason to want to come through tonight’s RaboDirect Pro12 match with Ulster as Glasgow’s return to league duty coincides with the prop’s return from injury.

The 25-year-old spent a lot of last season out with a knee ligament injury and worked his way back into the starting position at the start of this season only to suffer an ankle injury just ten minutes into the opening Pro12 game away to Ulster. The Warriors went on to lose the game at Ravenhill 28-14, and what initially seemed likely to be a fortnight off to recover turned into ten weeks in rehab for Welsh.

Welsh said: “It has been really hard. Having ruptured the ligaments in my knee last season I was delighted to be back to full fitness and starting the season against Ulster, and then within ten minutes suffered the new injury, so went virtually straight from one injury to another.

“It was hugely frustrating when you’ve battled so hard to come back from the first injury and I felt in the best physical shape I’d ever been in, and then only played ten minutes. I actually felt I’d let the team down as well to have my hard work rewarded with a start against Ulster and then be off so early.

“But it’s the game we play. It’s not for the faint-hearted and it’s part and parcel of the job. I look at other guys with long-term injuries and think myself lucky, and I’m back now and keen to last a bit longer against Ulster this time.”

When Welsh first came into the Glasgow team three years ago, as something of a late developer, the talented teenage boxer quickly established himself and worked his way into the Scotland set-up. The knee injury deprived him of pushing into Test contention, but that cap goal remains a major motivation.

“I know it takes time – a former Glasgow player told me it took him a year to get back to his best after a bad injury, but it starts with playing and the building it up. And you won’t get the chance to hang around at this club now.

“It [competition for places] is the strongest since I joined Glasgow. It’s far more fierce now which is good because that brings the best out of you. We have myself, Ryan [Grant] and Gordon Reid all going for the loosehead position, and then you’ve got Mike Cusack, Ed Kalman and now Moray Low back from his calf injury, and at hooker we’ve got Dougie Hall, Pat McArthur and Finlay Gillies – they say explosives come in small packages and that’s what he is – and we’re hoping Fergus Thomson will be back from injury soon too, so that’s a lot of quality.

“Last season we had a few shaky moments [in the scrum], but this season we have the luxury of six good props to choose from, and that depth is a real strength. I’d never say I was complacent, but maybe when we had a solid front row and not the same depth it was harder for the coaches to drop players they thought were not at their best, but not now.”

Welsh was relishing the prospect of All Black prop John Afoa being in the front row this weekend, but the new Ulster signing has been left out of their squad. Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin has rested four players after a loss at Leicester in the Heineken Cup, but such is their strength in depth now that it will still be a formidable side.

Forwards Rory Best, Chris Henry and Stephen Ferris are rested, while in the backs Craig Gilroy is given a break after featuring in all ten Ulster matches this season. Ruan Pienaar and Paddy Wallace are both out injured, while Scotland’s Simon Danielli returns to his favoured wing position after a few runs at full-back, so the lively Adam D’Arcy is back in the No 15 jersey, and former Glasgow lock Tim Barker starts on the bench.

The forward battle will be immense, however, with 28-year-old Declan Fitzpatrick up against Welsh and Irish cap Tom Court at loosehead, Johann Muller and Dan Tuohy offering a strong lineout threat, and Robbie Diack and Willie Faloon joining Springbok Pedrie Wannenburg in a powerful and quick back row.

McLaughlin commented: “Whenever you’re playing a Scottish side you’ve got to make your breakdown as accurate and as positive as possible. They’ll be all over you like a rash so we’ve got to make sure we’re clinical in there and producing the ball.

“The other thing is that with Scottish sides buzzing about all over the place, you’ve got to make sure you keep their forwards all in one place as much as possible. We’ve talked about varying little things, varying our lineouts and what we’re doing off them. Hopefully, that will help us as the game progresses.”

Welsh came off the bench late against Leinster last week and smiles recalling the plethora of scrums in the last ten minutes. Agreeing that the winners of the forward and breakdown battles at Firhill tonight will probably win the game, he is desperate to start playing a part in helping the Warriors into the league’s top four.

“Every week you’re going out to win because it’s all about making the play-offs in the league,” he added. “The Heineken Cup might be the jam but the league is your bread and butter, and we need as many points as we can get to get into that play-off spot.

“It was tough last week and everyone was disappointed, and Ulster are a tough team as well, but there’s no fear factor. We’ve got a job to do and all the boys are 100 per cent committed.”