Scotland 10 Thompson admits his struggles with form
Ross Thompson is aiming to banish a demoralising end to the club campaign by shining with Scotland on their summer tour of South America.
The 23-year-old stand-off was part of a Glasgow side who concluded their season with five consecutive defeats, including the crushing 76-14 loss to Leinster earlier this month that resulted in head coach Danny Wilson being sacked.
Thompson, who started the campaign in swashbuckling fashion, is relieved he has the chance to try to bounce back from that chastening period with the Warriors by enjoying a positive experience on international duty.
“For me personally it’s about looking to bounce back from a difficult end to the season and play as much rugby as possible out here,” he said, speaking ahead of Saturday’s ‘A’ team match against Chile in Santiago.
“It’s been an up-and-down season for me. We started the season well at Glasgow but didn’t finish it as well as we would have liked. Personally, I think it was the same for me.
“I didn’t feel I performed as well towards the end of the season, so I feel lucky to have got this opportunity to try and make amends for that and get some good rugby in towards the end of this season and look ahead to next season.”
Thompson made his Scotland debut against Tonga at BT Murrayfield at the end of October last year. He is hopeful of adding to his solitary cap over the next few weeks, with the Scots facing three Tests against Argentina after this weekend’s outing in Chile.
“I’ve been lucky to be in a couple of squads in the autumn and the tail end of the Six Nations and it makes you want to play more and get involved in these bigger games,” he said. “The Tests away from home against Chile and Argentina are what you want to be playing in, so I’m looking forward to it.
“There are lots of uncapped players and players with only a few caps in this squad, but we’re mixed in with guys with a lot of experience, like Ali Price, Grant Gilchrist, Sam Johnson and Jonny Gray.
“It’s a massive opportunity for us. Any time you get a chance, whether it’s in a game or in training, you want to prove that you can stand up at this level and play international rugby.”
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Think it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
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