Paterson Sees More to Come from both Warriors and Edinburgh

Scotland great Chris Paterson feels Glasgow Warriors will have unfinished business this season, while it’s a case of not quite knowing what to expect from Edinburgh.

Glasgow Warriors went on a great run under new coach Franco Smith last term, reaching the knock-out stages in both the Vodacom United Rugby Championship and the European Challenge Cup, only to miss out on silverware.

As for Edinburgh, they finished down in twelfth in the Vodacom URC table and now have a new head coach, with former Sharks boss Sean Everitt having arrived from South Africa to take over from Mike Blair.

The 109-cap Paterson – who is part of the punditry team for Vodacom URC broadcasters Viaplay – has been giving his thoughts on the two sides ahead of the start of the new season this weekend.

“You have a contrast, don’t you?” said the former utility back.

“You have a lot of knowns at Glasgow, how they play, the combative spirit they have got. There will be a bit of unfinished business as well, in terms of reaching the final of the Challenge Cup and falling short and also then losing at home to Munster in the quarter-finals of the Vodacom URC.

“There is more to come from Glasgow Warriors as a result of how the season ended. There’s a balance to it, there’s an understanding, there’s a hard edge. You know really what’s coming. You know it’s going to be a tough trip for whoever goes to Scotstoun.

“Franco Smith is such a shrewd and good coach that he figured out how to win on the road as well.

“So there’s a lot of known with Glasgow Warriors. In contrast, there’s a lot of unknown with Edinburgh.

“Sean Everitt has come in and he’s not had a huge amount of time to work with the players yet. But there is a lot of talent in that squad and there is an excitement. Ben Healy coming in from Munster at No 10 is a big move in terms of having an out-and-out game management controller. He will help glue some of that talent together.

“It will be really interesting to see how Edinburgh go this weekend. They open up away to the Dragons, so we will find out slightly more after that.”

Paterson continued: “When both sides have their international players available, they are going to be a really tough nut to crack and should be taken really seriously.

“The big thing for Edinburgh is to be more combative, more competitive than they were last season and finish higher up that league.

“For Glasgow, the big thing is to go one or two steps further than how it ended last year. There is a settled core to the squad and you know with Franco you are going to get a hard edge, while he will look to add layers to the attack and defence.

“In order to do better than last season and address that unfinished business, it’s much easier when there’s a sense of familiarity in terms of players and coaches and they’ve got that. So I think they will be a force again.”

*Chris Paterson is part of the Viaplay team bringing live coverage of every Vodacom URC game.