Tavi Tuipulotu and Ruwald van der Merwe made their Glasgow Warriors debuts against Sale Sharks in Champions Cup last weekend
Glasgow Warriors lock Alex Craig spoke highly of the club’s two latest debutants following their 47-27 win away to Sale Sharks in the Champions Cup.
Ruwald van der Merwe and Tavi Tuipulotu became Warriors #380 and #381 in the match at the CorpAcq Stadium. The South African back rower is a fresh face at Scotstoun having signed in the summer while the Australian hooker arrived last year but was sidelined through injury.
Craig, who scored his first try for Glasgow in last weekend’s win and has since signed a new contract with the club, is enjoying playing and training with both as part of a formidable forwards pack this season. The former Scarlets second row also praised the impact of van der Merwe who he described as a ‘bit of a stereotype’ in relation to being a classic example of a powerful, explosive South African forward.
“A great start to his Glasgow Warriors career” - lock praises latest debutants after Sale Sharks win
“I think Ruwald's had a great start to his Glasgow Warriors career,” said the 29-year-old. “He's obviously a big, strong South African forward, so has that bit of a stereotype. He has that and he showed that a lot on Saturday. I'm sure he'll definitely get more opportunities with Glasgow.
“It was great to see him get out there and get stuck into the game. I think more of the game went on, probably the more he grew into it and you could see that. I look forward to playing more with him.”
Craig was also particularly pleased to see Tuipulotu, the younger brother of Warriors centre and Scotland captain Sione, finally get his chance. He said: “He's a good friend, I like Tavi, he's a great boy and it was great to see him get his debut. Obviously, at the start of the week, he wasn't meant to be playing and then things changed a little bit, but I thought he adapted very well.
“That obviously is not always perfect preparation, but I thought he took it really well. I think the longer the game went on, he grew into it more and more. His arrows were great, then he had a couple of turnovers as well and then his try.”
A large part of the noise surrounding Warriors over the summer concerned the big name players who left the club. Jack Dempsey, Huw Jones and Adam Hastings were just some of the highly experienced, Test level stars to depart Scotstoun.
Former Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie and Australia centre Bayley Kuenzele are among the new arrivals but Craig says it doesn’t really feel like there has been a significant change in the squad. That, in part, appears to have helped them in their strong start to the new season which sees them so far unbeaten.
“I think the squad's in a very good place,” the six times capped Scotland international added. “We've started the season, I'd say, strongly. We had that little hiccup in the sense of that draw at home [against Ulster]. But I think the squad's in a very good place.
“There's a lot of confidence in the squad and there's a lot of guys who are very eager to put their hand up and perform for Glasgow, exactly like it was last year. I think the team is as hungry as it has ever been in both my years I've been here.”
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