Glasgow ‘still have a fair amount to deal with’ as Covid outbreak eases

Head coach Danny Wilson is confident Glasgow are over the worst of their coronavirus outbreak but still has several personnel issues to contend with ahead of Saturday’s clash with Ospreys.

The Warriors had to request the postponement of both legs of their derby double-header against Edinburgh during the festive period after reporting a number of positive cases.

Head coach Wilson admits his squad remains disrupted ahead of this weekend’s United Rugby Championship match at Scotstoun.

He said: “We’re in a far better place than we were but obviously we’re still going to have a lot of situations to deal with and finish off because of the isolation period and the recovery period.

“Although our positive cases are way down compared to what they were, we’ve still got a fair amount to deal with.

“It’s a big challenge to reintegrate players to the team after isolation. Some will make it and some won’t. They’ve all got different isolation periods depending on when they went into isolation.

“And then we’ve got to make the relevant assessments to decide if they’re ready and fit to play. It’s going to be a little bit mixed but we’re certainly in a much better place than we were five or six days ago.”

Wilson is frustrated the postponement of the two Edinburgh games denied his team a swift chance to tap into the feelgood factor generated by their rousing Champions Cup victory over Exeter at a full-house Scotstoun the week before Christmas.

He said: “We’d come off the back of a decent run of rugby – beating Exeter in Europe was outstanding – and we wanted to roll that into the derbies but unfortunately there was a block put on that, and on top of that we’ve still got a lot to deal with in terms of Covid.

“You’re normally managing an injury-rate throughout the year but managing an injury-rate and a Covid-rate is far more difficult.

“Everyone in our squad and Edinburgh’s would have wanted to play the derbies. Both teams were in form, coming off good results in Europe and I think it would have made for great games of rugby.”

Wilson hopes the Edinburgh games can be rescheduled for later in the season so that supporters are allowed in and the fixtures are not squeezed in on Six Nations weekends.

He said: “I’m hoping they are rearranged at a time when we can get a proper level of intensity, with all the internationals playing against each other in front of crowds. That’s what those games are about and that’s what they require, so hopefully that’s how they will be rearranged.”