The Vodacom Bulls' hopes of upsetting Franco Smith’s Glasgow Warriors just got a lot tougher with the news that Scotland captain Kyle Steyn may make a welcome return to action for the fixture.
Steyn was injured in the recent Six Nations tournament and it was expected he would only be ready for the Warriors’ game in two weeks' time in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship against the Lions, but news out of Scotland puts him in line for a surprise return against the Bulls in their crucial Investec Champions Cup Round of 16 fixture at the Scotstoun this Saturday.
The Bulls arrived in Scotland on Wednesday and got straight to work ahead of the tough clash, but Glasgow will be boosted by a number of players, irrespective if Steyn returns or not, ahead of the clash.
Glasgow assistant coach Scott Forrest said that there was a chance that Steyn could return.
“Kyle is probably not as bad as first thought,” Forest said. “He’ll hopefully be on the pitch this afternoon. If that goes well this afternoon, he’ll hopefully be involved across the next two weeks. That’s probably better news than what we were expecting at the end of the Six Nations.”
Forest also rubbished the rumoured deal with Bulls player David Kriel, who has been reported to have agreed terms with La Rochelle for next season.
“Yes, that one’s dead,” confirmed Forrest. “I think there were some conversations going on. Probably there’s been quite a few conversations, as there always is when you sound out players. Everyone knows we’ve got guys moving on at the end of the season, so we’re always looking at where we need to strengthen.”
Last weekend Smith welcomed back Scottish internationals Adam Hastings and Max Williamson, while this week should see the return of George Horne, rested last week, while Zander Fagerson, Rory Darge, Matt Fagerson and Jack Dempsey are all due to return this weekend as well.
Forrest is wary of the Bulls and said they would be tough for Glasgow.
“You look at them just now, they’re on a good run of form,” Forrest said. “They’ve won five [of their last six] league games. They’ve been to the final of the URC almost every year. They’re a team that knows how to win knockout games of rugby. There’s potentially a little bit of a rivalry happening there which I think is natural when teams play each other in a final and there’s a lot at stake. We don’t need to stoke the fire much, to be honest.
“We know their set-piece is really strong. When they get on the front foot and the forwards start to use that power game, we know that’s where they get success. But they do also want it to become unstructured at times. They’ve got world-class backs as well and I think that’s where they really come into play. The game when we played them here at the start of the season, we had a big focus on having to match them physically, because if you don’t do that, you’re going to struggle. We don’t want the game to get loose. That’s going to be the focus again this week for us.”
Both sides are set to name their sides for the clash on Friday.