Kyle Rowe outlines Scotland tour aim and reflects on first season at Glasgow Warriors
Winger puts injury woe behind him
With 12 tries from 17 appearances this has already been an impressive season at Glasgow Warriors for Kyle Rowe but the winger feels there is a lot more to come.
His club rounded off their regular league campaign with a laboured 38-26 win over Zebre on Friday and can now look forward to a home quarter-final against the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship play-offs this Saturday.
Rowe, who moved to Scotsoun last summer when his previous club, London Irish, fell into administration, believes Glasgow can go all the way in the URC. The final is scheduled for June 22 and after that he has his sights set on Scotland’s summer tour of North and South America.
While some players might welcome a break, Rowe is keen to keep going and build on the progress he has made. The 26-year-old missed the whole of the 2022-23 season with a serious knee injury sustained 11 minutes into his Scotland debut on the tour of Argentina two years ago. He forced his way back into the international set-up during the Six Nations and wants to add to his four-cap tally.
“I've managed to stay fit, played three times for Scotland [this season],” said Rowe as he reflected on the campaign. “Probably one of my best seasons apart from that first season with London Irish. I'm really pleased with the form I'm in and have been in for the past year. I'm not looking too far ahead but...take that into the quarter-final, semi, final and the summer tour hopefully.
“I want to play for Scotland as many times as I can. If I'm selected to go on the tour, great, but if not I'll be looking over the off-season to rest and recuperate and come back in and try not to lose what I've gained this season playing wise. We'll wait and see.”
Rowe’s pace and footwork have been real assets for Glasgow and the way he talks about making the final shows there is no lack of confidence on the part of the former Falkirk and Glasgow Hawks player.
Asked if he felt Glasgow could go all the way in the URC, he said: “We feel as a playing group we can. We're not looking too far ahead. We'll completely focus on the quarter-final first. The week after we'll focus completely on the semi-final and not look too far ahead because that will be a detriment to how we play.
“We can beat anyone here [at Scotstoun]. I don't think we really mind who comes here. We'll do a job. We'll have to go away for the semi-final I think, but we're still confident to go away and do a job.”
Glasgow fell short at the business end last year, losing at home to eventual champions Munster in the URC quarter-finals and then being well beaten by Toulon in the final of the European Challenge Cup in Dublin. Rowe senses that such experiences have hardened the squad’s resolve. “I wasn't here but I know there is a lot of disappointment from last year,” he said. “Everyone who has come in this year, players and coaches, we want to put that right and go on and do special things with this group. We know as a group we can beat anyone on our day so we're focused on ourselves. We'll preview the team we have in the last eight but a lot of it is about how we can get better as a collective but also individually.”
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