Glasgow Warriors coach defends half-backs as 'patience and tolerance' message sent
Carolan says making errors is part of learning for the likes of Afshar and Lancaster
Glasgow Warriors assistant coach Nigel Carolan believes that being tested in difficult environments like South Africa will ultimately help improve the likes of Ben Afshar and Dan Lancaster as players.
The pair started together in the 22-19 Champions Cup quarter-final defeat to Toulon at Scotstoun. Afshar dropped to the bench and was replaced by former Munster nine Jack Oliver for the 54-12 loss to Lions before returning for the 48-12 defeat at the hands of Stormers.
Lancaster retained his position at fly-half for the Lions match but was swapped out for Adam Hastings when they took on Stormers as the experienced Scotland international returned from HIA protocols. In a squad ravaged by injuries, Carolan says that the younger players will learn from the experience of these matches.
George Horne a “10 out of 10” scrum half but Glasgow Warriors coach has faith in other options
The former Connacht and Ireland under-20 coach also didn’t think it was right to compare their other scrum halves to the ever impressive George Horne, who has once again been a stand out this campaign. “South Africa is extremely difficult,” said Carolan,
“He [Afshar] got a good few minutes under his belt but comparing him to someone like George Horne is comparing apples and oranges. George for Glasgow Warriors is a 10 out of 10 scrum half. He's flawless.
“The speed that he plays at, the speed he's able to get the ball away at, everyone else is going to be compared to that. In some ways, it's unfair to compare everyone else to him and everyone else should be like him.
“Ben brings other qualities. He managed the game really well. He's got a strong kicking game, which has been challenged here over the last few weeks in the weather down in South Africa. You can't afford to kick loose. I thought he kicked really well.
“Dan is learning his trade. Last year at Racing he said he got a little bit of exposure. He played a lot of rugby, but coming into us, he's had to earn that right.
“We feel if we're going to continue to invest in Dan, he's going to need time in the saddle. He's not going to get it right all the time. As you've seen, even with Adam Hastings, there's a seasoned international player and it's challenging to get it right all the time.
“We're patient and tolerant with the young guys. You've got to give them time to learn. Part of learning is making errors, but we're with them. It's not that we're judging them on a lack of performance when they're doing their best.”
New Glasgow Warriors signing will ‘take pressure’ off international players who need a break
Warriors are set to lose both Adam Hastings and Huw Jones from their back line options next season. However, they have moved to recruit 27-year-old utility back Bayley Kuenzle from Australian side Western Force.
The one time Wallabies call-up is a player that Carolan is looking forward to working with. He said: “We need to be able to complement the players that we have and to supplement them when they're away with international teams. We want someone to be able to rotate our centres, be able to rotate our back three.
“The reason that we signed him is that we feel that we can continue to bring the young guys through, but also he takes the pressure off continually playing some of our international players during the times where we feel they need a break.”
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