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Scotland's Gregor Townsend confirms Tom Jordan Glasgow exit

By PA
Tom Jordan of Scotland arrives during the Autumn Nations Series 2024 match between Scotland and Fijiat Scottish Gas Murrayfield on November 02, 2024 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Euan Cherry/Getty Images)

Gregor Townsend backed Tom Jordan to keep going from strength to strength after the new Scotland recruit agreed to join Bristol next season – a move exclusively reported by Neil Fissler in RugbyPass this week.

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The New Zealand-born 26-year-old has burst onto the international scene in impressive fashion this month after becoming eligible following five years of residency in Scotland with Ayrshire Bulls and current club Glasgow.

It emerged this week that versatile back Jordan – a stand-off who has played at full-back in his first two Test outings against Fiji and South Africa – will sign for Bristol next summer, although the deal is yet to be officially confirmed by either club.

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“I knew about it last week,” said Scotland head coach Townsend of Jordan’s impending move. “I know he had a big decision to make last week, and he’s obviously thought about it a lot and then informed Glasgow.

“But he managed to put that decision, which must have been really tough for him, to one side and deliver a very good performance (against South Africa).”

Townsend acknowledged Jordan’s departure will be a blow for Glasgow but believes it reflects well on Scotland that several of their players, including recently-appointed captain Sione Tuipulotu, have attracted interest from elsewhere.

“Yes, it’s a positive that players are getting offers from other clubs,” he said.

“It’s not so much a positive if players are leaving, but two weeks ago, Sione was announced as staying at Glasgow, so that was a key signing for Glasgow.

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“I know Glasgow will be disappointed to lose someone of Tom’s ability and his versatility, but we have players who play outside of Scotland and perform well for us at national level. I’m sure Tom will continue to grow wherever he plays next year.

“I’m sure he’ll keep pushing himself over this next period in our camp. But also when he’s back at Glasgow to get better and better.”

Jordan is the only player who started against South Africa to retain his place for Saturday’s match against Portugal after Harry Paterson, who was due to start at full-back this weekend, got injured in training on Wednesday.

Glasgow lock Alex Samuel and Edinburgh back-rower Ben Muncaster will both make their Test debuts, while Glasgow centre Stafford McDowall will skipper the side, assisted by vice-captains Luke Crosbie and George Horne.

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Other notable inclusions are Sale wing Arron Reed and front-rowers Paddy Harrison and Will Hurd, who are all set to win their third caps, while Northampton centre Rory Hutchinson makes his first appearance since the 2022 summer tour of Argentina.

Arguably the most eye-catching name on the team-sheet, however, is Freddy Douglas, the 19-year-old Edinburgh back-rower who has never played a competitive game at club level but is in line to become Scotland’s youngest debutant since 1963 if he gets off the bench.

“We want him to just deliver and play the game that we’ve seen him play at Under-20s for Scotland, and also Edinburgh A, and how he’s trained with us,” Townsend added.

“He has got the mindset we believe that is ready for Test rugby. We see it as an opportunity for him. We believe in what he can bring to our team this weekend but also in the future.”

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24 Comments
H
Hellhound 6 days ago

NZ lost a great player there. Played brilliantly for Glasgow and against SA was the best player on the pitch. Caused the Boks some headaches. Slot him into the current AB's team, and they would be very dangerous, especially broken play.


However, the Scots isn't stupid and their recruiting from the SH countries is starting to pay off. They don't have the player pool the SH countries have, nor that of their neighbours even.


I applaud them for being so open-minded as giving those players who have loyally played their rugby in Scotland for years a chance. SA for one have such a vast pool of players that's so talented and could be world class given the smallest chance, but will never get a look in because there is just so many stars in the country.


I don't mind that Saffas play for other countries to further their own careers. Besides, it makes Scotland better and makes for one more team to step up to the big stage and make rugby more exciting than just the top 4 that usually wins.


Scotland may have lost by 17 against a rusty Bok "B" team, but that score is not a true indication of that match. The Scottish biggest mistakes was kicking at goal the entire time, instead of going for the jugular. If they tried to go for tries, they may have been stopped and the score might have been bigger, but the game was on such a knife edge, that if they did go for it, they might have scored a couple of tries or more and we very well might have seen a Scottish upset.


It was by no means a bad effort at all. Tom Jordan is one of their best new talents coming through. He should've stayed with Glasgow. What a loss for the URC Champs. Going to Loftus and getting one over the Bulls is something that not even the so called best team in club rugby could do. Leinster keeps losing at Loftus. For Glasgow to do that in a Final was phenomenal and Tom Jordan was no small part of that feat.


Rugby is truely becoming a global sport now, where the eligibility rules is making rugby a much smaller world, but a much bigger global game. The Scots is most likely the team with the most aliens in their team. They welcome players with open arms. I applaud that. They are a sleeping giant, and if they continue playing like they did against the Boks, despite the results, they will become a real threat for 2027.


I admired how they played. They impressed everyone. I say good on them. Results will come if they continue on their upward trajectory. I wish them and Tom Jordan all the luck they deserve.

L
Loosehead 5 days ago

20 foreign born players in Scotlands 2024 6 nations squad.wat an absolute joke.so Scottish born players only play club rugby and representative rugby while only foreign born players play international rugby for Scotland.😂

E
Ed the Duck 6 days ago

Good comment. Sad in many ways to see TJ leave but there’s always an upside when this happens because the players pick up their wages elsewhere and free the cash and playing spot for the next man up. And with only two pro teams, this is a necessity for Scottish rugby.

R
RC 6 days ago

Kiwi player moves to Scotland for an opportunity at playing pro rugby. Stays for five years. Becomes "scottish". Moves to England. Remains a scottish international. Great summary of the state of international rugby and eligibility laws these days.

D
DrinkAwayTheConcussion 5 days ago

I do not understand this attitude at all. How is it not a good thing for Scotland to have players from overseas?

Players who might not get to play international rugby get a chance to do so.

Scotland get a higher standard of rugby, are better opposition that makes the games more competitive that means the sides Scotland play against have to get better…

See how this works?

Look at Jamison Gibson Park. We laughed our arses off in NZ when he first got picked for Ireland because he couldn’t even get a starting role in SR.

But he got an opportunity and became arguably the best half back in the game next to DuPont.

As for “they aren’t Scottish”, well humans have been migrating around the place for many thousands of years.

Get with the times.

E
Ed the Duck 6 days ago

‘Twas ever thus for NZ and Aus, just allows the rest to do so as well now…

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J
JW 2 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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