SEAN Lineen and the SRU this week reiterated their commitment to developing native Scottish talent and made it clear there will be no sweep of foreign signings heading to Glasgow this summer.
Last year, Lineen was given extra funds from the closure of the Borders to bring in leading non-Scots in an effort to bolster the depth and experience in his squad, but it had mixed results.
He recruited Daryl Gibson, the former All Blacks c
entre, Samoa winger Lome Fa'atau, Chris O'Young, an Australian scrum-half, Argentine Bernardo Stortoni and New Zealand prop Mike Collins. He already had Welsh lock Andy Newman, Justin Va'a, the Samoa prop, and Canada skipper Kevin Tkachuk on the books and brought Samoan Opeta Palepoi from the Borders. Lineen has also signed a clutch of talented young Scots each year he has been in charge, but the lack of opportunities for more has been amplified by the SRU's decision to shut down the Borders and concentrate resources in just two professional teams.
It was inevitable that the national side would suffer, and despite protestations last year when the Reivers was disbanded, the lack of player depth at Test level has indeed caused national squad coaches problems this season.
Lineen has admitted that some of his signings have not had the effect he hoped for, on and off the park, but insisted they had helped strengthen the depth that has the side on the verge of a best-ever Magners League finish with today's game with Munster the final match of the season. O'Young was allowed to leave at the start of the year and Newman , is to leave Glasgow for French club Grenoble next month.
Today Andrew Henderson returns to inside centre, replacing fellow internationalist Graeme Morrison. Glasgow currently lie a credible fifth in the league and a shock win could pull them level with Munster in third and ensure their best season yet.
Munster (v Glasgow at Musgrave Park, today 5pm): D Hurley; A Horgan, L Mafi, R Tipoki, I Dowling; R O'Gara, P Stringer; F Pucciariello, F Sheahan, J Hayes, M O'Driscoll, P O'Connell, D Ryan, A Foley (capt), A Quinlan. Subs: T Buckley, M Horan, D O'Callaghan, D Leamy, D Wallace, P Warwick, K Earls.
Glasgow: B Stortoni; L Fa'atau, M Evans, A Henderson, T Evans; D Parks (capt), C Gregor; J Va'a, D Hall, M Low, O Palepoi, D Turner, K Brown, J Beattie, J Barclay. Subs: F Thomson, K Tkachuk, A Newman, J Eddie, S Pinder, S Barrow, G Morrison.
The full article contains 426 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
