Scotland's Stafford McDowall caps landmark month with new deal
Scotland centre Stafford McDowall has signed a new deal with United Rugby Championship winners Glasgow Warriors.
The 26-year-old has capped off a landmark month in his rugby career, which saw him captain his country for the first time against Portugal, with the deal.
The centre was integral to Glasgow's victorious URC campaign, featuring in 17 of their 18 regular season matches.
McDowall has made 81 appearances for the Warriors, scoring 16 tries, since making his debut in 2017.
The Warriors have not specified how long his new deal will run for.
“I’m really pleased to renew my contract,” McDowall told glasgowwarriors.org.
“It’s the club that I grew up supporting and a club that I take great pride in representing on and off the field.
“I’m loving my rugby here. The brand of rugby we play is a really exciting one, and its one that I hope the fans enjoy watching as much as we enjoy playing!
“Taking on a leadership role is also definitely something I’ve enjoyed in the last year or two. There are so many great leaders at the club currently, which really helps to drive the standards within the club.
“I want to play my part in helping this group defend the URC title, beginning this Friday, as well as help push us forward to challenge in Europe as well. I can’t wait to get back out there on Friday night if selected.”
Glasgow head coach Franco Smith added: “Stafford has developed into a key leader in our playing group, and is someone who regularly drives our standards and our values on and off the field.
“His skillset enables him to contribute effectively both in attack and defence, whilst also bringing out the best in the players around him.
“He has fully bought into the journey that we are on as a club, and is fully committed to helping this group achieve its potential.”
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Not so many when you compare it to the squad of 50 plus players used by SA. Four main problems with the team and Schmidt shows he is a good technician but poor international coach by not selecting the best players and rotating and developing key positions.
First, the scrum is woeful if Bell and Thor don’t play. AAA and Nongoor in particular are poor. Talea may be good but is not good enough. Schmidt should select Sio, Ainsley and Latu as the bench front row. All playing well in Europe. He should also be doing better with Pone and perhaps getting him over to France to work on his scrummaging. Pone is our best running prop but poor coaching has killed him. Needs better coaching OS provided eg Skelton and Meafou. Secondly, 9 and 10 combo. McDermott is a confidence player and is terrible on a bad day. He takes several steps before passing which kills the speed of ball and results in turnovers. Better off with Kerr Barlow who is playing well with La Rochelle and making McDermott work on his skills. Edmed probably does need a run too. Thirdly, centre and fullback. Perese is our best defender at centre and should be in the squad. The outside back defence is poor without Joe and needs to be shored up. Wright is also a confidence player and has poor defence. When he is off like he was last week better to replace him with someone like Reece Hodge who has a great boot and good D. Fourthly, lack of ball runners who break tackles outside of Bobby V and Skelton. Wilson is not up to international standard and dosent break tackles nor does McReight. Replace him with Gleeson and Leota on the bench if fit. Would also be better playing Pone than Nongoor as Pone at least has a good running game. Latu also makes ground. Amatesero is also a better player than Williams. Frost has been the standout fine. Finally, player rotation. Schmidt is grinding key players like Bell and Bobby V into dust. He needs to give them breaks by utilising OS players more and developing youngsters. The loss of Meafou to France and the guy who captained Scotland exemplifies the poor coaching and development in Aus.
Go to commentsIt doesn't baffle me. We have seen this before from kiwi coaches in Australia. Exactly as I predicted Schmidt is chopping and changing the team every week and playing players out of position and there doesn't appear to be any discernable game plan
It appears the Wallaby players have lost faith in Schmidt already. Again, exactly as I predicted.
Once Aussies can see a kiwi is a fraud, all faith just goes out the door. It happened with Deans, it happened with Rennie and it's now happened with Schmidt. Players don't like being screwed around and they know when the selections and tactics suck.
We are going to get done like a dinner during the Lions tour, just like it was when Deans was coach and Schmidt will get sacked with his forty pieces of silver. He's a mercenary.
And congratulations on an honest assessment. Some in the Australian media have become sickeningly obsequious.
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