There’s an elephant in the room. The kind of elephant that once had the most poach-worthy tusks in the savannah but is now dozing in the shadows of his team mates. Johnnie Beattie is the missing man at Glasgow and no one is pointing out his absence with so much as a hushed murmur.
As Rory Lamont roars into town young full-back Stuart Hogg is hoping to wrest a jersey from him.
Life is about change. Nothing can stay the same for too long. In a postmodern world to stand still is to be left behind: to perish in unpopularity.
This morning I was fixed with a smile and told “I’m a pretty positive sort of guy.”
Over a plate of biscuits Sean Lineen assured me of Glasgow’s focus and of his renewed passion for the game on the west coast. Last season the Warriors finished in a lowly 11th place and there was talk of the head coach being courted by Aviva Premiership outfit Bath. This time round, though, the former Scotland centre is looking to rebuild and get the best out of a young team.
After Friday night’s 28-14 loss at Ravenhill it was a case of: we’ve started, but must do better.
Some press releases can be taken out of a clichéd handbook. “This preseason is the best we’ve ever had/we’re the fittest we’ve ever been/the new signings have created a real buzz around the place!”
Starting his 5th season as Glasgow Warriors Head Coach Sean Lineen has heard and said these several times. Now, though, he must know that he has this season, and this season alone, to try and turn things around after last term’s near disastrous plummet to the foot of the Magners League.
Like it or not we are in the throes of a new season.
At the weekend I spent a lot of time with a good friend of mine who is almost exclusively obsessed with his image. He likes to control what people see in him.
For rugby teams this can also be true.
In all the chatter last week about how Gordon McKie had let down the pro-teams in recent years, there were a couple of comments that look nice when you want to make a point in an article about their general rugby malaise but I didn’t think were strictly fair.
The Scotland under-20s have already left for their World Cup in Italy. In their ranks they have Duncan Weir, Mark Bennett and Stuart Hogg. They also, it must be said, go with mixed expectations.
