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Co-captain Callum Gibbins the latest to leave Glasgow
By Online Editors
Glasgow co-captain Callum Gibbins is leaving the Guinness PRO14 club at the end of this season. The flanker made a major impact since joining Warriors three years ago from Super Rugby side Hurricanes, the back row even being named captain as the 2017/18 Guinness PRO14 Dream Team.
The 31-year-old has shared the Glasgow captaincy duties with Ryan Wilson for the past two seasons and has scored 13 tries in 46 appearances, all but two from the start. Head coach Dave Rennie told the Glasgow club’s website: “Callum has had a massive impact since his arrival and leaves a lasting impression.
“A high-quality man, he is hugely respected by peers and staff alike. Cully would hate me saying this but he has been the perfect Warrior.
“His work ethic and attention to detail on and off the pitch makes him an outstanding role model. Superbly conditioned, competitive and intelligent, his point of difference is his ability to become a different creature and bring a brutal edge every time he crosses the paint.
“He genuinely cares about his team-mates, is very generous with his time for fans and prominent in a variety of community projects. Having a lead role in the Scrumbags, the team band that raised over £10,000 for the Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity is one such example of this."
Gibbins is the latest player to leave Scotstoun, following the retiring Ruaridh Jackson out of the club. The ex-Scotland player announced on Monday that he will retire from the game at the end of this season, bringing the curtain down on a 14-year-career that included 163 appearances for the Warriors across two spells with the club.
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"Right, so even if they were the 4 worst teams in Champions Cup, you'd still have them back by default?"
I think (i) this would literally never happen, (ii) it technically couldn't quite happen, given at least 1 team would qualify via the challenge cup, so if the actual worst team in the CC qualified it would have to be because they did really well after being knocked down to the challenge cup.
But the 13th-15th teams could qualify and to be fair I didn't think about this as a possibility. I don't think a team should be able to qualify via the Champions Cup if they finish last in their group.
Overall though I like my idea best because my thinking is, each league should get a few qualification spots, and then the rest of the spots should go to the next best teams who have proven an ability to be competitive in the champions cup. The elite French clubs generally make up the bulk of the semi-final spots, but that doesn't (necessarily) mean that the 5th-8th best French clubs would be competitive in a slimmed down champions cup. The CC is always going to be really great competition from the semis onwards, but the issue is that there are some pretty poor showings in the earlier rounds. Reducing the number of teams would help a little bit, but we could improve things further by (i) ensuring that the on-paper "worst" teams in the competition have a track record of performing well in the CC, and (ii) by incentivising teams to prioritise the competition. Teams that have a chance to win the whole thing will always be incentivised to do that, but my system would incentivise teams with no chance of making the final to at least try to win a few group stage matches.
"I'm afraid to say"
Its christmas time; there's no need to be afraid!
Go to commentsYou are a very horrible man Ojohn. Brain injury perhaps?
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